Supply chain issues have reached the point where you may have to change what you have for breakfast, as a shortage of cream cheese is a microcosm of what many business owners are dealing with today.

“I had to go to Neptune, New Jersey, to get 20 cases of cream cheese for both stores, South Plainfield and Metuchen,” says Mohammed Abdeljaber, owner of Bagel Pantry.

A shortage of cream cheese does not bode well for owners of bagel shops. After his supplier didn’t deliver, Abdeljaber had to travel a county away to get the necessary cream cheese his customers demand. He’s never had to do this before.

It’s not just cream cheese. Supply shortages are historically elevated, according to a Bloomberg report. We haven’t seen this much strain on the supply chain in at least a decade.

Abdeljaber knows this all too well, as he’s been overcoming more than just a schmear of shortages as of late.

“Bagel products, orange juice now for two weeks. I didn’t have any orange juice - it’s been tough,” says Abdeljaber.

But he says he’ll continue to find a way because his customers are his top priority.

The New York Times reports bagel shops in the city are experiencing an unprecedented shortage of cream cheese, causing many to begin hoarding the spread as dairy manufacturers and suppliers have come up short in filling orders of pallets of unprocessed and unwhipped cream cheese in recent weeks.