• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii

3

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii

3

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Financethanksgiving

Here’s What Happened to the Great Thanksgiving Pumpkin Shortage of 2015

By
Simon Constable
Simon Constable
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Simon Constable
Simon Constable
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 26, 2015, 8:00 AM ET
Courtesy of Libby's
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

It was the pie crisis that wasn’t, at least not yet.

In early October, crop experts warned that a poor pumpkin harvest threatened to ruin Thanksgiving for lovers of one of the holiday’s most famous offerings. And those warnings turned into a national story. One news source screamed, “Pumpkins for Halloween, but shortage looms for Thanksgiving pies.”

Some of the articles predicted that only those who got to the store weeks before Thanksgiving would find canned pumpkin.

But the great pumpkin shortage of 2015 never really materialized. Libby’s, a division of Swiss food giant Nestlé which produces 80% of the canned pumpkin sold in the U.S., says even last minute Thanksgiving shoppers are likely be able to find the popular holiday pie filling on their supermarket shelves.

What’s more, prices of canned pumpkin haven’t moved. Libby’s says it’s keeping them the same with an eight ounce can still holding a suggested price of $1.79.

That said, the retail prices of fresh pumpkins are actually higher than last year, but not by much; up 7% from last year’s average in mid-October, according to the USDA. That’s about $4.32 this year vs. $4.02 on average in 2014. It’s not exactly a budget busting difference.

So what happened? Those who were predicting the shortfall did it based on the weather, which was particularly bad for this year’s pumpkin crop. Illinois, by far the largest producer of pumpkins–746 million pounds last year with almost four fifths of that going into cans, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture-got rained on a lot at a key moment in the season.

“This year was dry then extremely wet in June turning a deficit of water into large surpluses,” says Joe D’Aleo, chief meteorologist for agriculture at forecasting service Weatherbell Analytics. What pumpkins actually like is water in the ground when you plant them, then warm and a little drier conditions, he says.

The second largest pumpkin-producing state, California, also got hit with the weather, says D’Aleo. There, where in 2014 almost 200 million pounds of pumpkin were grown, they had the opposite problem: drought. There’s always something to grumble about on the farm.

Libby, which sources its pumpkin in Illinois, saw a drop in crop yield of 50%. As a result, Libby’s stopped harvesting earlier than usual.

What the experts missed is that Libby typically produces far more cans of pumpkin filling than it needs for just the holiday season, reserving cans for the rest of the year. But this year, Libby made the tactical decision not to reserve any of its inventory for future months, instead shipping its entire stock to retailers across the U.S. before Thanksgiving. The company says it now has no holdover inventory. Once those cans disappear from retailer shelves there will be no more until next year’s harvest.

So while the great pumpkin shortage didn’t materialize for Thanksgiving, there could still be problems for pumpkin pie lovers for the rest of the year, and into 2016.

Even so, fresh pumpkin may still a possibility for pie makers. Look for so-called cheese pumpkins, which should be smaller and smell sweet on the bottom, says Tom Vaccaro, dean for baking and pastry at the Culinary Institute of America.

Cookbook writer Ann Volkwein says fresh pumpkin can be watery compared to the canned variety. If you get stuck with regular pumpkins, then you might need to add a little sugar.

Food shortages aren’t actually that uncommon. Back in 2008 there was a famous rice shortage which prompted some U.S. retailers to start limiting how much customers could purchase. That year there was also a pistachio problem when Iran, by far the world’s largest producer, suffered cold weather during a key part of the growing season leading to an awful harvest.

And way back in 1974 Britain suffered a sugar shortage. You didn’t get offered one lump or two, you just took what you could get. I was there and remember in horror.

Still, in all those cases it wasn’t like you couldn’t actually get rice, pistachios, or sugar. It’s just there was less of it than usual and maybe higher prices.

Simon Constible is author of The WSJ Guide to the Fifty Economic Indicators That Really Matter: From Big Macs to “Zombie Banks,” the Indicators Smart Investors Watch to Beat the Market

About the Author
By Simon Constable
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

Best private student loans for medical school
Personal Financestudent loans and debt
Best private student loans for medical school
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 2, 2026
7 hours ago
Michael Burry just shorted Caterpillar’s 172% AI rally. One analyst says his bet won’t even matter
Investingstock prices
Michael Burry just shorted Caterpillar’s 172% AI rally. One analyst says his bet won’t even matter
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 2, 2026
8 hours ago
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
EconomyDebt
AI’s $2.2 trillion deficit fix is already half fake, economists say
By Tristan BoveJuly 2, 2026
9 hours ago
s
Personal FinanceSports
The sports economy is unaffordable at the bar, let alone the stadium
By Catherina GioinoJuly 2, 2026
9 hours ago
sb
North AmericaU.S. Department of the Treasury
Scott Bessent goes after the top Mexican cartel’s new billion-dollar business: gas stations
By Fatima Hussein and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
9 hours ago
eggs
LawAntitrust
Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
2 days ago
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
Success
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
11 hours ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
8 days ago
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
Success
Today, Emily Blunt is worth $80 million thanks to her Hollywood career—but she actually wanted to be a UN Spanish translator on $80K
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 2, 2026
21 hours ago
Americans are escaping the U.S. for New Zealand where house prices have hit a new low—but only wealthy Americans with $3 million spare can invest
Success
Americans are escaping the U.S. for New Zealand where house prices have hit a new low—but only wealthy Americans with $3 million spare can invest
By Emma BurleighJuly 2, 2026
13 hours ago
Current price of oil as of July 2, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 2, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 2, 2026
14 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.