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Supply Chain Disruptions Explained

April 19, 2021
Image: @nationalparkservice

Dear Valued Customers,

For better or worse, in today’s world we are more connected than ever. This means that while we are affected by each other’s triumphs and good deeds, we also share the world’s burdens collectively.

In recent months, we have been experiencing an unprecedented period of supply chain disruptions. Every year, there are certain commodities, crops, and finished products that experience low supply due to weather, tariffs, shipping delays, etc.—which results in out-of-stocks and price increases. We always try to have a solution and/or substitute in place for your needs, but when there are no substitutes to offer, we just have to wait it out. This year is very different due to the tremendous multitude of factors working against us as we strive to achieve a smooth supply chain for so many different products.

For most of 2020 and early 2021, there have been production delays in factories worldwide due to ongoing Covid-19 quarantine restrictions on both facilities and workers. Weather events led to poor crops, while a shortage of shipping containers created delays, and increased shipping costs. We even had some extraordinary human error at the Suez Canal further impacting the supply chain. The snowball effect on numerous product lines has been staggering. We are doing our best to mitigate out-of-stocks and price increases, but, unfortunately, we expect the problem to persist in the near future. Some importers and manufacturers are predicting these problems will only begin to ease by early summer.

In an effort to keep you informed as to which goods and products are affected, we are keeping an ongoing list of problematic products. Additionally, we are always looking for new sources of substitutes and/or similar products, but this proves challenging because other distributors/importers are trying to do the same. We know that running a business in the current general circumstances is tough enough, and we wholeheartedly sympathize with you. We can only imagine how these shortages are making your operations that much more difficult.

If you would like a more detailed description of the problem, click here to read more.

In the meantime, if you have questions about specific products please contact your customer service representative for an updated list of problematic products with potential substitutes and ETAs. This is a rapidly changing world so we are trying to regularly collect information from all suppliers that are experiencing delays. Again, please know that we are addressing this issue every day and appreciate your patience while we all work through this difficult time.

Thank you,
Ace Natural

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