In Leelanau County, an acute challenge has cropped with the global supply chain: A shortage of glasses. While the return of in-person events this year has been a blessing to the hospitality industry, replacing stemware that’s been broken or stolen has become nearly impossible.

That was evidenced to the public when McKenzie Gallagher of Rove Estate Winery posted a plea on Facebook earlier this month, imploring customers to stop taking their imprinted glasses. “We appreciate how busy we've been more than words can express. Today alone, over 100 glasses were stolen. In other years, we would chuckle, order more and maybe roll our eyes. This year is different.”

She says when she couldn’t get new glassware, it became an issue impacting the winery’s bottom line. “We’ve stopped selling them,” Gallagher says, which also results in a loss of profits. And when they can get them, they’re more expensive. “Costs are up, freight is up,” says Gallagher.

It results in staffers spending more time washing the glasses they do have, and the overall labor shortage means the venues have fewer workers than they would like. “It’s a lot more work. We have to be active busing and washing. We’ve got a fantastic crew but it’s lean.”

Rove isn’t alone. Both 45 North and French Valley Vineyard report are having trouble replacing drinking glasses. Julie Lopata, the tasting room manager at French Valley, says it’s exacerbated by the fact this time of year tends to be the busiest.

Patrice Jones, a tasting room associate at TwoK Farms, says like Rove, the cidery is holding back from selling its logo glasses. “I know our glassware supplier has been saying he doesn’t know how long it will take to get them. A couple months at the earliest,” Jones says.

“People are stealing glasses,” says Patrick Marino, the tasting room manager at Bel Lago Vineyard Winery and Cidery. “People think they’re entitled to.” He’s addressed the problem by simply using stemware without a logo. “Who’s going to steal one of those?” he asks.

Dylan Davis, owner Custom Stems of Traverse City, services a number of restaurants, wineries and breweries across the county and the state. He says he’s gone so far as to recommend his customers contact his competitors. “Everyone has to adapt. I just got shot glasses [in], the first in three months.”

He points to another industry as one of the reasons for the overall glass shortage. An influx of orders from candle companies kept the glass manufacturers busy when the hospitality industry was all but shut down last year due to the pandemic. “When they opened up again, the [glass] companies were committed. They oversold, there’s too much candle business,” he says.

Add to that the overall labor shortage, and that means the glass manufacturers have been unable to catch up to demand. “There are idle lines [with] the labor shortage. It’s all so intertwined,” says Davis.

While the inability to procure new tasting glasses may be the most visible problem, it’s not the only one. Mandy Moseler of Northern Latitudes Distillery says the distillery has had to change out virtually all its bottles. “We had been primarily with two bottles companies for years. Now I spend an exorbitant amount of time searching.”

A bit of good news on the glass front comes from Sam Simpson of Aurora Cellars and Harbor Hills Fruit Farm. He says he hasn’t seen a shortage of bottles for his mobile bottling business, which services wineries across the state. “I changed my supplier as we saw issues growing last year,” he says.

He notes that in order to stay ahead of the shortage, his operation has expanded its dry goods storage. Where he previously had two to four weeks of goods on hand, he’s increased that to six months.

The challenges go beyond glass. Lopata says she’s experiencing a shortage of merchandise such as T-shirts and hats. Also lacking are foodstuffs. “We make charcuterie boards here. There’s a shortage of food products, salami, specialty cheeses,” she says.

Paul Hamelin of Verterra Winery says his shortages include drinkware but go beyond that. “Bottles I’m worried about. They’re sourced outside the U.S. So both (shortages) are real. They haven’t hurt business yet but I take it seriously.”

He says last year there was a widespread shortage of cardboard, so packaging wine for shipping was a challenge.

Lopata sums it up this way. “There won’t be a shortage of wine. Just everything else.”