Article About the Canning Lid Shortage

[Midnightmom]

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Where Are the Canning Jars? Is It 1975 All Over Again?

Here is what I gathered after calling retailers, suppliers and distributors in North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. I inquired whether they are seeing increased demand or suffering from decreased supply?

 

Retailers are having more demand from customers. Distributors are having more demand from the retailers. A quote from one distributor “all of our orders are on back-order until December at this time. Suppliers are not able to keep up with the high demand, we get all of our supplies from Ball.” And this from another distributor “Ball Corp has told their buyers they are short on workers, nobody wants to come to work so making just lids is not a focus. It will be at least until October before they start that line back up.”

Read more at: https://foodsafety.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/08/where-are-the-canning-jars-is-it-1975-all-over-again/

 

 

 

[Jeepers]

We older folks saw this coming and got while the getting was good, as we were able. I had forgotten about the vinegar and sugar shortage! It was definitely an issue. When you could find it, it was sky high. Also pickling spices. Many people were canning for the first time and were starting out with pickles and jelly. 

 

*I also hadn't thought about candle makers and crafters using up canning jars. Most of them get their jars from... that big shipping store that sells all kinds of different bottles and boxes. I can't think of the name of it but probably will later. I'll post it when I do. Sigh.

 

I'm probably going to make a trip to Lehmans next week to have a look around. I have some shopping to do down in that direction. I was nosing around on their website and they are out of jars and lids (including Tattler) and pressure canners. They said they will fill back orders first but they aren't accepting any new orders. They said they expect to not have a shipment before next spring. Also said the lid manufacturer has stopped producing for the rest of the year. They are also sold out of all their Berkey water purifiers. 

 

The smaller Amish stores, off the beaten path, might have some. Especially for their usual customers. Don't know. Most Amish families can hundreds and hundreds of jars of food every year. Jars probably won't be much of an issue for them but lids might be. 

 

Amazon has plenty of lids but they are the generic ones. Probably a lot of failures with those but doable in an emergency situation. I bought plenty of lids this spring but they won't last forever. Maybe should  buy some of the generic ones to set back just in case. Could always use them for dehydrated food storage. They are much cheaper than Ball lids...probably for a reason.  

 

 

*Uline was the place I couldn't think of. Some of the jars say they won't be available until Oct . and some say Nov. They say they aren't taking pre-orders. This is a huge company so if they can't get the jars... Looks like they have some regular mouth Ball lids. 

 

https://www.uline.com/BL_8192/Ball-Canning-Jars

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Jeepers
Added Info

[The WE2's]

4 hours ago, Jeepers said:

We older folks saw this coming and got while the getting was good, as we were able.

 

Yep!

[Homesteader]

While everyone else was fighting over the paper products in the TP aisle, I was quietly adding lids and seeds to my inventory. I remember the last shortage and didn't want to deal with that again. I gave a few boxes of lids to our pharmacist friend at church. You never know when you need a drug dealer. 

[Midnightmom]

Covering all my bases here.

 

Copied and pasted from Sutton's Daze...

 

 If you bought canning jar LIDS off of Amazon, OPEN them up (ALL of them) and make sure they are the real thing and undamaged!

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Heads up folks! Community member Angie shared her story for all of us to learn. Leisa, after watching your lid shortage video I went to my pantry to look things over. A couple of months ago I bought 4 dozen regular lids on Amazon (3rd party) & 4 dozen wide mouth lids. I was grateful to get them thinking this fall I would can some meat. I put them away because my life is busy right now going to and fro out of town caring for my mother. I decided to get them out and look at them. I was so angry. I will send a picture of what I received. They were in original ball boxes, but were NOT ball lids. They are crap lids. Feel free to post this to your page to warn others.

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https://www.youtube.com/post/UgzrWZsmBj4GrDrAoJB4AaABCQ

 

 

[Annarchy]

Exactly!!!!  Darn Amazon is importing knock off’s from China.  Ball /Kerr have already issued a statements that they won’t be able to ship “authentic” lids until spring 2021.  Amazon is importing China made lids, and saying they are the ‘real’ product.  Not quality, at all.

[Annarchy]

These do NOT look like real Ball packages, or lids.  No markings on the top of the lids and the beveling is definitely wrong, plus the color & seals are wrong.  Yes, that’s the way they come out of the packaging, a US shipping sticker over a China export sticker.  

 

[Annarchy]

Oh, one thing I noticed, on the back of the box, in the script, there is a small circle, after the word Ball, with nothing in it, where, on authentic Ball lids it is the circle with a “R” (registered trademark).  
 

For a better picture, see here:  

 

[Jeepers]

I read somewhere where someone said China was using old Ball boxes and putting junk lids in them. I don't think so. They are China...they can manufacture anything. I think they are printing the "Ball" boxes and filling them with their manufactured lids. I'm sick of our quality control not policing all of these imports. From poisons in the dog food to lead in children's toys.  

 

When Covid started and masks were required you couldn't find them anywhere. Before I caught on to the way things were being sold, I bought some masks online. Long story short, they were shipped to me directly from China. Took about a month to get here. They were shipped in a flimsy box, more like an envelope really, and the two boxes inside were smashed to smithereens. At least the masks were sealed in cellophane. Really good masks but I wasn't aware of the shipping time and I really didn't like the fact they came right to my door directly from China. I got more savvy about shopping online (Amazon) and that has only happened to me once. 

 

Speaking of mashed boxes, I've noticed that a lot of boxes I've been getting look okay on the outside but the product box on the inside are dented up or mashed in. A lot of them. I've been doing a little bit of Christmas shopping and I've had to open each product box to make sure nothing was broken inside. Since the shipping boxes are fine, I know the product boxes were packed up damaged.

[Joyfilled]

So....I saw an article on CNN about the shortage.... because people were cooking a lot during quarantine. 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/07/us/mason-jars-canning-lids-shortage-trnd/index.html

[Jeepers]

I think the lid and jar shortage will last a little bit longer than expected because the companies will have to fill all of the back orders first. Then they will get to the rest of us. I saw on a lot of sites where they aren't even taking pre orders. 

 

In the 1970's when this happened, the following canning year was much better. But things are different now. Most of our stuff comes from China and we are dependent on their whims. 

 

Also, back then they came out with the one piece lids so there was a bigger variety to choose from. Those lids didn't last long on the market. They were awful and not as reliable and more expensive. But if that's all you could get...

[Littlesister]

I have both tattler lids and jars on back order. Hoping to get them within the month.  i looked at a couple of my old canning lid boxes and they state made in USA.  So I do think China is doing something they should not be doing.  Those lids look bad. Just wondering if they would even hold their seal.

[Midnightmom]

Thank you to "The Kneady Homesteader" for reaching out to Ball. 🥰

 

 

UPDATE: Oct 17, 2020

 

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Ball Has Heard Our Call! Canning Supply Shortage Update, October 2020

 

Hi and welcome back to The Kneady Homesteader (YouTube) Channel. Today I want to share some encouraging news that Ball and heard our call and they are working diligently to increase their production and bring us the canning supplies we need during the off season, which will soon be upon us.

 

Here is a link to their Facebook page with a list of authorized retailers and their latest posting on the current shortages: https://www.freshpreserving.com/where-buy

 

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It has been brought to our attention that there are a number of fraudulent sites posing as official websites for the Ball brand of canning products. Ball brand canning products are currently only sold through select authorized third-party retailers, and not our website, FreshPreserving.com, or the Ball corporation site, Ball.com. Appropriate legal action is being taken to have these sites removed. In the meantime, we recommend that you shop genuine Ball brand canning products available at one of the select authorized retailers above. Please contact our consumer services team with any questions.

 

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Midnightmom

[Littlesister]

There are no jars to be found anywhere here. Nor any lids.. I have had my daughter, granddaughter both keeping and eye out and buying them if they come across them.  I ordered some but they will not be here till March.  That doesn't help me now. Though I will get by with what I now have. 

My tattler lids came yesterday. 3 doz. wide mouth and 3 doz. small mouth. I also get some extra rubbers as well. So that will hold me for a long while with all the other ones I have. I checked my inventory of the metal lids and I do have several doz. of each size still. i had ordered them from Leman's a while back before the shortage started. But didn't think about the wide mouth pints that I use the most of. Though I do have enough now to can the barbeque that I hope to can next week or week after. That is only because I have used some of the beef and chicken that I had in the wide mouth jars. The last chicken I canned, I did in the small mouth jars.  It's a bit harder and trickier to get chicken breast in the small mouth jars. I don't usually cut those up but can them whole in their own juice.

[Jeepers]

Glad Ball is aware of the fake products out there using their name. They said to "shop genuine Ball brand canning products" which is what people thought they were doing. How are you supposed to know who to trust these days. 

 

I was nosing around on Amazon the other day and saw a case of Ball jars for $70.00. That's price gouging and disgusting. 

[Littlesister]

I have found out from 2 places now that the canning jars will no longer be available till after March 21st of next year. They are going to try to get them made during off peak hours.  For me there are no off peak hours this year. No garden so having to deal with canning from frozen state to make what I want to get canned.  Granddaughter that lives in CA said she could get some so will check with her.  Though I am not sure she will be able to get them, but worth a try.

[Midnightmom]

It's very hit & miss here in NorCal. I was at WMart yesterday and there was one lonely case of 1/2 pint jars. I snatched them up because they also had some no-sugar/low-sugar pectin and I decided I would like to make some strawberry jelly.

 

Was there again today, and this time they had 3 cases of QUILTED half-pint jars, but I couldn't think of any use (personally) for them so I left them on the shelf for the next lucky canner to have. 

 

What's even MORE amazing is that the prices are still "normal" for the jars and lids.....................when you can find them, that is.