Kraft Paying People $20 to Not Make Cheesecake This Holiday Season as Cream Cheese Shortage Looms

In response to the cream cheese shortage, Kraft is paying people not to make cheesecake this holiday season.

On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Cream Cheese manufacturer announced that they’d be reimbursing $20 to roughly 18,000 shoppers who purchase other desserts or dessert ingredients in place of cheesecake. The company is encouraging people to replace their usual cream cheese-filled delicacy with cookies, cupcakes, or brownies. Kraft aims to ease the scarce cream cheese supply from running entirely out in the U.S.

This news comes after the world-famous Junior’s Cheesecake in Brooklyn was forced to suspend all cheesecakes following the shortage caused by the global supply issues. Bagel shops in New York are also suffering greatly from this shortage. The Cheesecake Factory is likely to make some changes soon as they usually sell about 35 million slices of cheesecake annually.

Cream cheese is among a growing list of foods impacted by the crisis. Chicken tenders, bread, and canned food items are also household staples in short supply across the nation.

To claim the $20 reimbursement, shoppers can sign up for the promotion beginning Friday. They’ll need to submit a receipt for their dessert purchase between December 17th and Christmas Eve.