Forest Hills Bagel Responds To The Cream Cheese Shortage: Report

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Forest Hills Bagel manager Luis Diaz is used to serving customers bagels at all hours of the day (and night) at his 24-hour Queens Boulevard shop, but lately patrons have been ordering something else: large tubs of cream cheese.

The change in orders, Diaz told Eater, is likely because of a recent cream cheese shortage, which is affecting shops across the city, according to a New York Times report.

"Last week, no one had Philadelphia," Diaz told Eater, adding that he even tried crossing state lines to get some schmear, but wasn't successful.

"This store in New Jersey was selling it first come, first serve. [There were] 15 cases of 50-pound tubs, but by the time we’d have gotten there it wouldn’t have been available," he said.

Usually, Forest Hills Bagel goes through 20 cases of 50-pound tubs per-week, but lately they've had to make do with fewer, 30-pound cases sold at a much steeper price — the latest in a series of ongoing, nationwide supply chain issues.

For that reason, some bagelries are contemplating raising prices or limiting orders, several shop owners told the New York Times.

Diaz told Eater he hopes it doesn't get to that point, but distributors told the Times that they didn't anticipate the problem resolving anytime soon.

Read the full Eater article, "NYC Bagel Shops Are Getting Creamed by the Cream Cheese Shortage" here.