Britain’s supermarkets are facing a Marmite shortage a year after manufacturer Unilever was forced to suspend production due to the UK's first national lockdown.
The love it or hate it condiment has been hit by the closure of breweries during Covid restrictions, robbing manufacturers of its key ingredient, yeast.
The national 'drought' has left shelves empty across the country, with Sainsbury's and Ocado also out of stock online.
Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose have limited supplies of the small 250g jars rather than larger pots.
Asda is currently the only grocer which has both the smaller and larger 500g jars in stock.
Shoppers have been left in despair by the supply issues, with some fans resorting to alternative options such as Vegemite and its low-salt option, instead.
This week, one customer complained: "No Marmite in Waitrose either... what’s going on? #Marmiteshortage."
Another said: "I’m Marmite through and through. Only a pandemic-induced shortage would cause me to consider Vegemite."
A third said: "Our usual dry good suppliers Albion Foods - none, Ocado - none, Sainsburys - none, Amazon fresh - none. What is going on? #Marmiteshortage."
The ‘shortage’ comes nearly a year after Unilever, which owns Marmite, temporarily halted all production of the spread except for its small 250g jars.
However, the company said it hopes shelves will be fully re-stocked later this year as the re-opening of pubs and breweries looks to boost beer production.
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A Unilever spokesman said: "We've continued to see high demand for Marmite with more people making meals at home during lockdown as well as reduced supply of yeast from the breweries that supply us.
"As pubs and hospitality begin to open up once more, we expect the full range of jars to be back on supermarket shelves over the coming months."
Approved Food managing director Andy Needham said the Marmite shortage is a prime example of the knock-on effects of Covid restrictions on global food supplies.
“The limited re-opening of pubs this week is fantastic news,” he said.
“It means that not only will the hospitality sector be able to start recovering but production of by-products, such as brewer’s yeast, will receive a much-needed boost, allowing firms to ramp up production levels and get their products back on our shelves.”
“We are hopeful that once the economy starts reopening, availability of these products will follow suit and hopefully many will be produced and sourced locally once again.”
