Scarcity.

[crazychicknlady]

Five Walmarts, no jelly. At the Walmarts I've checked, the jelly shelves are practically empty. Almost nothing left besides Smuckers and Walmart's brand of peach preserves.

For most of this year I watched as the supply of blackberry jellies/jams/preserves dwindled from grocery store shelves, disappearing completely from the ones I normally shopped at.

In an act of desperation I checked Walmart. To my pleasant suprise, they had several Walmart brand blackberry choices. I landed on a fruit spread, because it's made with sugar and it's first, of all of four ingredients, is blackberries. From Poland of all places. It's delicious.

I felt more secure in my jam needs, until the past few weeks.

Good thing I stocked up. My supply won't last forever, though.

Comments

[which_chick]

I wonder what's causing it. There's been no observed shortage of sugar (I did grape and elderberry jellies this year and a batch of grape jelly goes through seven cups of sugar in one go) in my neck of the woods. Maybe it's a blackberry problem? Where are blackberries commercially grown?

I'm in the mid-Atlantic US and my black raspberries (not blackberries, but similar style of thing) were massively abundant this year, enough that I made quick-n-dirty hand pies with some of them. (see here) I usually just freeze the ones I don't eat out of hand and use them for crepe (imagine I have a hat on the first e, there) topping in winter, but I had more than that many, so... quick-n-dirty hand pies it was. (Cook down black raspberries sufficiently, a touch of sugar and some cornstarch, until thick enough. Make rough "for sweet things" butter pastry (1.5 cup flour, 1/2 cup butter, tablespoon sugar, ice water until it holds together), roll out, cut into approximate rectangles. Put spoonful of berry stuff in middle, fold over, pretend crimp with knife blade, we are not being fancy. Bake until lightly browned. Eat while still hot enough to burn your mouth, with strong black coffee on the side.)

[crazychicknlady]

That sounds delicious!

I was working under the assumption that the problem was the blackberries, since, for a while, there were plenty of other jam choices, just fewer and fewer blackberry. I hadn't even considered sugar, and, as you've experienced, there has been plenty of bulk sugar on the shelves where I regularly shop.