Good Luck Getting Your Filthy Paws On Pepperidge Farm Cookies This Year

If you're planning on treating Santa to a gorgeous platter of Pepperidge Farm Milanos this year, make sure you have a backup plan. Pepperidge Farm parent company Campbell's Soup Co. recently told Bloomberg News that its cookies are in short supply this year due to labor shortages and increased demand.

Why not just ramp up cookie production? Tut, tut, little cookie hound: it unfortunately isn't that simple. Bloomberg News reports that, on a recent earnings call, Campbell's CEO Mark Clouse said the company has already increased production for other high-demand products like soup and Goldfish crackers. But the company's cookie division doesn't outsource its cookies due to their "proprietary recipes," making it harder for the company to ramp up production. "We've prioritized increasing supply and are already leveraging capacity opportunities across the network to meet increases in demand and maximize availability," the company said in a statement to Bloomberg News. To be honest, one look at that corporate-speak-laden sentence made my eyes roll into the back of my head, but it sounds like they've maybe got a plan?

This is just the latest in 2020's long list of food shortages. We've seen shoppers clamoring for baking supplies, snacks, and even canned corn since the pandemic first reared its putrid head. Consider this your official Takeout-sanctioned reminder: please, please do not stockpile outrageous amounts of food. That includes Pepperidge Farm cookies (if you're able to find any). Milanos will ride another day, and until that happens, you can always take a crack at something homemade.