If you aren’t taking the supply chain disruption seriously yet, you definitely will now: we are out of blue. That’s right, folks—the color blue.
The materials needed to make blue paint are at a premium due to the supply chain chaos wreaking havoc across the globe and shaking us to our core. Dutch paint company and authority on the matter Akzo Nobel confirmed our worst fears, whose CEO Thierry Vanlancker disclosed to Bloomberg News that “it’s creating complete chaos.”
This blue shortage shouldn’t come as a surprise, as paint gurus have warned of the supply chain mayhem eventually affecting paint production in this way. Paint gets made through the combination of hundreds of additives and chemicals, so it’s no wonder some of these necessary ingredients are MIA right now. Chief among these dwindling materials are those we need to bring about our precious blue.
And it gets worse. Vanlancker warns that this blue blockage could extend through early to mid-2022 before our ROYGBIV equilibrium gets fully restored.
Until then, Akzo Nobel must increase their prices by 9% to account for their losses. Other paint peddlers such as Sherwin-Williams have followed suit, tipping their investors last month to a “longer-term” spike in costs for paint production, spurring resultant spikes in their paint prices.
This news brings a whole new meaning to “singing the blues,” which is what we’ll be doing until early to mid-2022. For now, though, we’re doing our best to stay positive and are hopeful that there will be a silver lining: fewer gender reveal parties.