Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Culture > News

Starbucks’s Pumpkin Spice Latte Shortage


Brace yourself, collegiettes, because we at the News Blog are about to bring you some devastating information. Not even a month after we found out that there is a strong possibility of a world-wide bacon shortage in 2013, we are faced with the very real fact of a Starbucks’s pumpkin spice latte shortage. And not a year from now; this shortage is actually happening, right now, in cities near you (well, maybe).

If you live in Manhattan, you may have already heard the news from your local barista. “I placed my order, and the barista informed me that they were out. I was so distraught,” Jason Sizemore, 38, told The Wall Street Journal. He later tweeted that his “world almost ended” when he heard the news. Although Sizemore settled for a slice of pumpkin bread, he referred to the shortage as a “terrible tragedy.”

Starbucks Corp. tells the WSJ that there is no a widespread shortage of the pumpkin spice syrup used in the drinks, but notes that infrequent deliveries are causing shortages in some stores. Seattle, Starbucks’s birthplace, is reportedly fine, but shortages have hit customers in Chicago, New York, and other locations across the country according to WSJ. The syrup, which actually contains no pumpkin, has become precious overnight, with containers selling for upwards of $40, reports The Huffington Post.

But not everyone is as distressed as they should be. Cynthia Smalls, a Starbucks barista in midtown Manhattan, feels bad for her angry customers, but she isn’t all that worried. Smalls told the WSJ, “You guys do know it’s just a drink, right?”


Photo Credit:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044422310457803656073668148…

Julia is a recent graduate of Johns Hopkins University, where she studied Writing Seminars and Women's Studies. She lives outside of Boston and is a Fall 2012 Editorial Intern at Her Campus. Her favorite activities are writing, drawing, and eating sushi. She also enjoys picking up new hobbies, like photography, and she's trying hard to learn the ukelele!