Starbucks says Earl Grey shortage to be resolved within a week

Starbucks (AP / Elise Amendola)

Earl Grey drinkers planning a Boston Tea Party-esque revolt against Starbucks, take note: the company says a shortage of the bags should be resolved "within the next week."

Some tea-drinking Starbucks customers had threatened to take their business elsewhere after some stores reported a shortage of Earl Grey during a transition to a new provider.

Starbucks is switching out its Tazo Earl Grey, green and herbal teas to similar blends made by Teavana. In the meantime, stores are unable to reorder Tazo, and several have depleted stocks. Employees at stores across Canada confirmed to CTVNews.ca that they're running out of the tea, which several baristas described as a customer favourite.

On Wednesday, Starbucks said it was “blown away by the love customers have shown for our tea offerings,” and based on their feedback the company has started shipping the new brand to its stores.

“I’m happy to share that Starbucks has already begun to ship new Teavana teas to Canadian stores early so any outages should be resolved within the next week – some stores are serving Teavana teas as early as today,” Carly Suppa, senior communications manager with Starbucks Canada, told CTVNews.ca in an email.

Fans of the black, bergamot-flavoured tea had taken to social media to vent their frustration with the lack of Earl Grey.

"You may have officially helped me kick Starbucks loyalty, if it lasts too long might save me a ton of $," one B.C. resident wrote on Twitter.

Many of the Starbucks teas are not only served plain, but are also used in tea lattes and other drinks.

Tea switch

Starbucks purchased Georgia-based Teavana in 2011. Since the purchase, the coffee giant has been slowly transitioning from its former provider, Tazo, to Teavana products.

In March, Starbucks began selling a Teavana blend of chai tea, phasing out the Tazo equivalent. In the summer, Starbucks replaced Tazo iced teas with Teavana products.

As more Teavana products are introduced, Tazo products will no longer be sold in stores. In early 2015, Starbucks will make the switch to Teavana Earl Grey, green and herbal teas.

In addition to Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Passion, Green and Mint teas, Starbucks is also introducing new flavours to its stores, including Teavana’s Youthberry and Pineapple Kona Pop.

Customer complaints

On Twitter, several customers wrote that they were missing out on their favourite hot drink.

"How does a #Starbucks run out of Earl Grey tea bags – not a good start to my Monday," one user wrote.

Similar sentiments were posted south of the border.

"@Starbucks I'm too loyal. Bring back Earl Grey Tea. I don't know why it's been discontinued," an Us Weekly magazine fashion director wrote.

"What??? No more Earl grey tea????!!!! Makes no sense!!!" a woman from Belton, Texas wrote.

And in Los Angeles, a woman wrote she wasn't able to found any Earl Grey in the city: "Major disappointment!"

One fan of the drink took to social media site Reddit to voice concerns about the possible shortage, asking managers whether Earl Grey was being completely phased out with the introduction of Teavana.

"The last time I was in a store I was told that Earl Grey tea would no longer be offered by Starbucks," Redditor "adrirodr" wrote in late November.

The post was later updated with a response from Starbucks customer service, advising the user to check individual stores to find out which had run out.

In the comments section, one poster claiming to work at Starbucks wrote that the situation was "kind of in limbo" because Tazo hadn't been replenished and Teavana hadn't been shipped.

One person wrote that his or her store got Teavana Earl Grey in the spring of 2014, though the Redditor didn't say where the store was located.

Another Redditor wrote that they preferred Tazo's blend to Teavana's.

Coast-to-coast shortages reported

An informal survey of stores in major Canadian cities revealed that about half of the stores have either run out of Earl Grey or are concerned that they will run out before they have the Teavana equivalent in stock.

Of 15 stores contacted by CTVNews.ca, seven said they had depleted stocks. The other eight told CTVNews.ca that they had enough, but purposely ordered extra several months ago, anticipating a possible shortage. However, Suppa told CTVNews.ca that the company is not seeing any widespread shortages.

Employees at two stores in Toronto told CTVNews.ca that their stores had been sold out since early December, and said that customers had been asking frequently when they'd get their next shipment. Other Toronto stores said they had some left, and expected to be able to supply Earl Grey until the Teavana launch.

Starbucks employees at stores in St. John's and Charlottetown each said they had one box left, approximately 120 bags of Earl Grey.

An employee at a store in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood said that she had more than enough tea to last to January, but said that they'd been warned in a company memo about the switch four months ago.

The employee, who said her name was Alina, said the store's management team bought extra boxes of the tea when they heard about the switch, anticipating a possible shortage. She said she thinks her store may run out of green tea before getting the supply from Teavana.

An employee at the St. John's Starbucks located at 191 Kenmount Rd. in St. John's said the product is a "top seller," and predicted they may run out by the end of the week.

An employee in Halifax said her store still had a large stock of Earl Grey and another employee in Fredericton said she expected to get the Teavana supply before running out of Tazo. Employees in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver said they'd planned ahead and stocked up.

Baristas in Regina, Victoria and Calgary also said they'd noticed their supplies were running low.

Suppa told CTVNews.ca that fans of Tazo teas will still be able to buy them in grocery stores in Canada.