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Aug 23
2010
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If your morning routine always began with "L'eggo My Eggo", the great waffle shortage of 2009 probably left you missing that warm buttery and syrupy goodness. Considering that Eggos account for nearly 70% of frozen waffles, the shortage was treated as nothing less than a national calamity. With a flooded plant in Atlanta and broken bakery in Tennessee, Americans across the nation were left with empty freezers and a bad taste in their mouths when Kellogg Company was unable to produce some of their favorite breakfast foods.
A recent full-page ad in USA Today (see photo) prompted me to revisit the great waffle shortage of 2009, as it provides such a clear and tasty case for business continuity planning. Heavy rains in October 2009 kicked-off Eggo's sabbatical from kitchen tables across the country. One Kellogg spokesperson wrote "We are experiencing temporary Eggo supply constraints caused by a confluence of events [caused by] flooding at our Atlanta facility as well as equipment issues necessitating extensive enhancements and repairs at our largest waffle bakery facility." As a result, Kellogg's added a banner to the top of their website that stated, "Some of your favorite Eggo products are out of stock nationally. We are working hard to fix this short-term issue". Little did they know that "short-term" would actually become nine months.
