Bars across Scotland are running out of gas! The Carbon Dioxide shortage facing the UK and Europe is taking its toll on the bar industry, with Heineken and Coca-Cola among the companies publicly announcing problems with production and supply.
A Manager of a busy Glasgow bar told DRAM, “ One of our key products is Old Mout, and we can’t get it for love nor money. Not only that but no one has yet told us when we will be able to get it again or exactly what the issue is. Apparently, it can’t be produced.”
We did reach out to Heineken for more information on the supply problems but have yet to hear back.
So far, not everyone is being impacted, with bars like Inn Deep and Fire Bird in Glasgow and Candy Bar in Edinburgh all telling DRAM they have not had any problems with supply and are expecting no shortage.
Calum Haim, Manager at Akva in Edinburgh, told DRAM, “We haven’t had any problems yet, hopefully, it will stay that way. I think the problems seem to be affecting the ‘big boys’ like Heineken more than the smaller companies.”
For bars that are being affected, it couldn’t be coming at a worse time. The rare Scottish sunshine and Football World Cup is driving sales of beer, cider and fizzy drinks through the roof.
Even those who are not having problems with supply are having problems making orders at the moment. Sean Moggach, Manager at Ninety-Nine Bar in Aberdeen, told DRAM, “So far we haven’t had any problems with our stock of the product but the ordering process is a lot more complicated and taking way longer.”
So far the disruptions have failed to stop trade, but the problems are ongoing. The problem has been caused by several CO2 factories closing for maintenance across the UK and Europe-very bad timing!