White Claw News
Bars in Dallas and across the entire U.S. face White Claw shortage
The hottest drink of the summer is facing a dire shortage. White Claw, the phenomenally popular hard seltzer that's been such a sensation, is suffering a nationwide shortage in the United States — and more to the point, in Dallas-Fort Worth bars, as well.
White Claw's marketing VP Sanjiv Gajiwala tells CNN that the company is "working around the clock" to meet demand, and that it's carefully doling out what supply it does have to keep all markets in stock as best as it can. "White Claw has accelerated faster than anyone could have predicted," he says.
Dallas bar owners like Jason Caswell, who owns The Chuggin' Monk, LG Taps, and Ross & Hall, say they've had to rotate in other hard seltzer brands to make up for the loss.
"We can't get our hands on much White Claw right now," Caswell says. "I think we might have a few cases left."
White Claw is owned by Mark Anthony Brands, the maker of Mike's Hard Lemonade. It's a flavored seltzer water with 5 percent alcohol and 100 calories. That's versus 150 calories or so for a typical beer — lower calorie and, for those who are beer-averse, none of the beery taste.
Josh Giboney, a manager at Goody Goody Liquor store in Fort Worth, tells Business Insider he can't keep White Claw in stock for more than a couple of days at a time.
"It doesn't matter how much White Claw we get in — just about any amount of the cases we bring in will be gone in the next couple days," he says. "The people buying it are getting in early and getting a lot, knowing it will sell out."
A representative from Ben E. Keith, the alcohol distributor, says the shortage for restaurants and bars is real.
"I stopped selling it — we can't get it in," he says. "We order 10,000 cases and maybe get 30. It's gotten harder in the past two months, ever since White Claw went viral. They're saying they're going to ramp up production, but we've got football season coming up, I don't know how they're going to do it."
He says that some bar owners are going to one of the remaining places that still have some supply: supermarkets.
An employee at Kroger at 10677 E. Northwest Hwy. says the store has one six-pack and a few 12-packs left in three flavors. "To be honest, I'm pleasantly surprised to see we still have these," she says.
Other names have risen to fill the need, including Truly, Henry's, and Natty Light, a new product from Anheuser-Busch, which have been met with varying levels of enthusiasm.
"Everybody wants White Claw," says the Ben E. Keith rep.
Vandalay Companies' Hunter Pond and Rick Dunlap flank Bob Sambol.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography 