Libby's Warns of Canned Pumpkin Shortage for Holiday

Uh-oh! Have you heard? Libby's, that ubiquitous Nestlé brand of canned pumpkin puree, so essential to Thanksgiving bakers, has announced that due to rainy weather and late harvests, there may be a shortage of canned pumpkin this Thanksgiving!

We already advised you to stock up on nuts, so you better add pumpkin to the list. Or just buy a pie pumpkin and make your own puree; we really prefer the taste.

Have you been seeing a shortage of canned pumpkin in your area?

We were initially rather suspicious when we saw this release from Libby's making food section headlines; was it just a marketing ploy to get people to stock up on pumpkin? Well, probably not — there is a lot of pumpkin bought this week no matter what, and the weather has been bad this year. (All those poor tomatoes, too.)

So, if you find your local store is out of canned pumpkin, we suggest buying organic puree, since organic farmers form a much smaller part of the market and weren't hit so hard.

Also, make your own puree!
• How To Make Pumpkin Puree

And if none of that works for you, check out Libby's official press release and website for some alternate pie recommendations.

• Libby's Pumpkin Shortage - "Mother Nature has been fickle!"

(Image: Libby's)

Comments (17)

The farming folks in my hometown were talking a lot in September about what a bad year it was for pumpkins, and I definitely saw that reflected in the availability and quality of pumpkins for sale come harvest time (especially pie pumpkins). That being said, I saw no shortage of canned pumpkin filling on the shelves when our (Canadian) Thanksgiving rolled around in October - the only shortage I noticed was on frozen pie crusts the day after, ha! So I'm not sure that I would really worry.

I stocked up early but there is more pumpkin this year than in other years, I think the store is being really good about restocking due to news of the shortage---however I live in Illinois where Libby's is based so we'd probably be the last to see a problem.

Make a sweet potato pie instead. Then you won't have to worry about the shortage or the possible BPA risks. I like to use canned pumpkin to slip a healthy vegetable into soups, muffins, etc, but will switch to using a mashed fresh cooked sweet potato or squash instead to reduce can use.

My local grocery had cans of pumpkin in their "featured sale" aisle and there was plenty. I also picked up three cans of organic pumpkin puree at Trader Joe's and while the shelf was about half empty, there were a dozen or so cans left.

Nobody should leave shopping for a canned item until the last minute anyway!

While I think there was less produced this year, I have not noticed any shortage whatsoever. Every place I've gone has been STOCKED. I think Nestle's PR department is seriously pushing this story.

The pumpkin shortage actually started a lot earlier here in New England. My local stop and shop had been out of Libby's and One-Pie Pumpkin since June, and I started shopping for my pumpkin stash in mid-September. I called 8 stores before I could find any and when I found some, I trekked right on over and bought the last 6 cans they had! Good luck to those of you that are having trouble finding pumpkin! I feel your pain!

I meant to mention that last year's pumpkin crop wasn't good, and that is affecting us as well.

I had a hard time finding pumpkin in stores in the north suburbs of Chicago in the late summer/early Fall (I use it year round for my dog's food). It has been easier to find lately, but I guess I'll have to find some alternative soon.

I second Kate (NC)'s recommendation to use sweet potato. It's naturally sweeter, so you can add less sugar.

I'm been looking for a pie pumpkin since Halloween and can't find one anywhere (Twin Cities, Minnesota)! I really wanted to try that this year, but I may have to go canned. Bummer.

I was going to use Alton Brown's sweet potato pie recipe. I hadn't realized there was a shortage, but wanted to get away from bpa filled can linings.

If you get really desperate, you can use pureed carrots! I can't tell carrot pie and sweet potato pie apart most of the time.

I don`t generally use canned pie filling - I tend to roast butternut squash and use that instead.

I found pie pumpkins at Safeway a couple of weeks, but didn`t like the result nearly as much as butternut squash.

Using sweet potatoes sounds like an excellent idea, though.

I've used Trader Joe's so far this season - no problems there, but I should stop by soon so it doesn't all get snatched up as a result of this news! :)

Use butternut squash. Either roast it or peel/seed/boil it.

I saw the note at my grocery store - after I had already obtained a pie pumpkin via our CSA delivery. I have used the Trader Joe's pumpkin in the past (yum! and I must confess, my family "tradition" is to use the Libby's pie recipe from the can) and the TJs was fine as a sub. My husband loves pumpkin pie, so I mostly make it for him.

I'm looking forward to trying pumpkin puree pie this year. I got 3 1/2 cups. The one time I was really able to use (and appreciate) the ginormous food processor my MIL gave us several years ago.

I also bought the organic pumpkin puree from Whole Foods - it was early, I was there, so I grabbed it. WF is a trip for us, not on the usual route. Can't say yet how it goes.

we bought a few cans of Farmer's Market Foods Organic Pumpkin Puree this weekend and were told that this company, which is local (Oregon) was doing great business on the east coast due to the bad pumpkin crop this year out there. i'm just glad we have enough pumpkin to go around!