If you’re a fan of bubble tea, you may want to consider some alternatives. The problem is the bubble part or what are called boba and it’s a story that stretches across the Pacific.
You may know it as bubble tea, or boba tea, the drinks with small chewy balls of tapioca. But boba-licious bubbles belong to business byproducts bulk-carried as imports.
Blame bottlenecks in shipping for a shortage. Most boba is not made in America—primarily it comes from Taiwan.
Right now, there’s an imbalance of shipping containers—there’s greater demand for products coming from the Asia Pacific—and that’s hit the boba business.
The San Francisco Chronicle chased down the U.S. Boba Company, which runs the Boba Guys shops—which of course specialize in boba tea and remain baffled by burst boba bubbles.
The Boba Company actually does make its own boba balls---but booming boba business begins by basic tapioca starch which is imported mostly from Thailand.
The Pacific proximity of specific ingredients has complicated the boba trade. Marketwatch quotes industry leaders as saying a shortage could last for months.
Back in March, Yelp did a data dive---declaring delivery items that were most popular in each state.
For Hawaii—the winner was bubble tea. But for now, fans of the boba brigade brought to blues may try a plainer tea or even local coffee.
