Depending on how long it lasts, the shortage could spell disaster for boba shops, many of which are still recovering from economic setbacks during the pandemic.
Businesses are reporting difficulty in getting boba, the chewy tapioca balls that s ubiquitous in bubble tea. (Boba can refer to both the drink itself and to the tapioca balls.) Coupled with unpredictable shipments, shop owners are also reporting higher costs to obtain boba. Without boba, we don t even know what we would do, said Justin Gallardo, manager of a Bing s Boba Tea location in Tucson.
Why is there a nationwide boba shortage?
A bottleneck on boba supplies is happening at West Coast ports, where shipping containers are piling up, the San Francisco Chronicle first reported on April 13. Most U.S. boba shops get their tapioca balls from Taiwan. But even businesses that make their own pearls need to get tapioca starch, which is shipped from Thailand, the main producer of the world’s tapioca starch, the Chronicle r