Transparency about our supply difficulties!

It's needless to say that the pandemic has brought challenges to the entire world. As part of our efforts to be transparent, we want to talk about the paralyzing effect of the pandemic on us and other small businesses.

During autumn you probably saw that our tea stations were not as plentiful as it used to be. We ran low on so many things, and had to maximize the few products we had left in our storages. We had a limited menu, less topping choices, no plastic cups with our logo and little to non sealing lids. This lead to frustration for you and us. Luckily we have received all of our necessities to run a sufficient tea station now, BUT we still want to explain to you about our challenges.

You get a finished product from us, but behind that is a lot of working forces - from Asia to Europe. TeaOlogy - the finest bubble tea in Norway

What happened?

- Global shipping crisis (an on-going problem): a severe disruption happened to the global supply chains during autumn. We didn't receive our products, due to a worldwide port congestion. It was also a massive price jump in shipping fees, where transporting a 40 foot-container now cost 547% more than the last few years. Regardless of it, we try to remain the same price.

- Coronavirus-related factory shutdowns in Asia: this was (still is) troublesome for us, since our suppliers couldn't supply us with our needs, because of shutdowns, labour shortage and insufficiency of raw ingredients in Taiwan/Vietnam/other countries.

What is the future of TeaOlogy and other industries?

- We live in an ecosystem, which means everything is connected to each other. When one part is disrupted, then it'll give repercussions to the rest. Despite the challenges, we'll try our best to push through and keep TeaOlogy going. If we are out of a product you enjoy or run low one something, please forgive us. This situation is unpredictable and out of our control.

We hope this post gave you an insight in what a business faces during a pandemic. It's already such a complex process to run a business, where the pandemic doesn't help on the easiness of running a business. You get a finished product from us, but behind that is a lot of working forces - from Asia to Europe.

Take care, show compassion, be kind and stay healthy!