A Crippling Loss of an Unexpected Kind or a Candy Cane Mystery?

 

Photo by Madara Moroza on Unsplash

     I have been so excited to write to you this season about favorite recipes, memories, Christmas quotes, and ideas to enjoy Christmas a bit more this year. One of my favorite things to do is make Candy Cane Cocoa. I'm planning to share the recipe in a couple of days. I was in for a big surprise. Never in my lifetime did I expect this! The United States is experiencing a candy cane shortage!

    I like Bob's candy canes the best. I couldn't find them. I was searching for them on-line, and I was shocked to find that Walmart is charging $6.99 for a box of twelve Brach's candy canes— and they have to ship it to me! Every other flavor is $1.72. I then looked on Amazon, and I found that they are charging $9.98 for two boxes of twelve. Needless to say, candy canes aren't going on my tree or in my cocoa this year. I'm still going to share my original post about making the cocoa if you happen to find a sale.

    Since I was at the computer, I started Googling. Why the sudden price hike? It seems that in the last few years domestic sugar crops were lost in Hurricane Ida, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture stated that many peppermint and spearmint crops were being lost to fungus. 

    We are definitely subject to supply chain issues. But now, for another surprise to me. When I Googled candy canes again, within five minutes of my first search, to check other sources, an ad from Walmart popped up with peppermint candy canes for $1.72! I clicked on it, and added it to my cart. Why were they only showing it as $6.99 before?

    This is definitely weird. Do we have a Crippling Loss or a Candy Cane Mystery?

    Well, if I can indeed purchase the candy canes for $1.72, I will be making a small batch of candy cane cocoa. I'll leave the rest of the candy canes for other sleuths to track down. Stay tuned for the recipe in a couple of days. 

    Happy Kringling dear reader!

    

    Laura

    Jesus be Glorified!

Here's a link to the story of the candy cane on YouTube.