A Vermont chef made a 7-hour round trip to Whole Foods just to buy pita bread, spending double the normal price, after his supplier canceled last minute

• A catering company said it was left scrambling after its food supplier canceled an order last minute.
• The head chef made a 7-hour round round trip to a Boston Whole Foods to buy pita bread, he told CNN.
• Ongoing supply chain issues and soaring demand mean suppliers are struggling to keep up.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

A Vermont chef made a seven-hour round trip to Whole Foods to stock up on a key ingredient after a supplier let him down last minute, he said.

Nadav Mille, who owns catering company Chef Nadav LLC with his wife, told CNN he ordered a batch of pitas from food distribution giant Sysco weeks in advance, but that the day before the order was meant to arrive, Sysco told him the food would not be sent.

“I got a call saying that we’re not delivering to you tomorrow, or any time soon,” Mille told CNN. “I started calling around, and I found what I needed at Whole Foods in Boston … the next day I was in the car, and I spent twice as much as I would have.”

In a statement to CNN, Sysco said that it paused delivery to certain customers but that it expected this to be temporary. The CEO of the company also acknowledged supply chain pressures and shortages in recent earnings calls and interviews.

Sysco did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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Mille told CNN that he hadn’t found an alternative supplier for his pitas yet. Instead, he’s preparing for more delays and shortages by increasing his freezer capacity and stocking up, he said.

Mille’s Vermont-based catering company is one of many food-service businesses in the US hit by the ongoing supply chain crisis.

After months of lockdown, demand has soared as restaurants reopen, and suppliers are scrambling to keep up. A breakdown in the freight supply chain, along with trucker shortages and the labor crisis, has created a perfect storm, leading to long delays and shortages.

KFC, Starbucks, and McDonald’s are among the biggest chains to have spoken about shortages. And some fast-food giants – including Chipotle – are raising prices to cover higher ingredient and labor costs.