Supermarkets in the UK are facing a Marmite shortage

Supermarkets across Britain are facing Marmite shortages as the pandemic caused breweries to close resulting in a shortage of yeast.

You either love it or hate it but Marmite is undisputedly an iconic British condiment and has some surprising health benefits (opens in new tab). Sadly as a result of the Covid-19 lockdowns, supermarkets are facing a huge shortage of the controversial spread.

Marmite is a staple in many households, the nation is seemingly split 50/50 of people who love it on everything and people who hate it with a passion. Because of this, we see weird and wonderful collaborations with the brand pop up everywhere. From Tesco's Marmite hummus (opens in new tab) to M&S's Marmite butter.  (opens in new tab)

Unilever, the manufacturer of Marmite, were forced to close their breweries during the first national lockdown and this is still causing disruption today. The closures have resulted in a shortage of Marmite's most important ingredient, yeast.

The shortage is leaving shelves empty everywhere, Sainsbury's and Ocado are completely sold out online, Morrisons, Waitrose, and Tesco only have a limited supply of the small 250g jars available.

Asda is the only supermarket that has both 250g and 500g jars on the shelves. 

A Unilever spokesperson told the Mirror, ‘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.’

The ‘love it’ community has taken to  Twitter to express their despair. One wrote, ‘There’s a national marmite shortage? Seriously 2021, we’ve been through enough already.’

Another said, ‘Shortage of marmite nooooooooo I am a lover not a hater x.’

And a third commented, ‘OMG STOP EVERYTHING!! There appears to be a national @marmite shortage😭’

Hopefully, with the lockdown roadmap (opens in new tab) underway, the shortage will be short-lived. As pubs open and beer production continues, Marmite production will increase.