Stay-At-Home Baking Boom Leads To Flour, Yeast Shortage Across SoCal

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A baking boom is underway as more people cope with self-isolation during the coronavirus crisis, but the surge is leading to a shortage of ingredients across the Southland.

On Instagram, the hashtag #QuarantineBread is filled with hundreds of pictures of crunchy, fluffy loaves of bread.

With demand so high, flour and yeast have become hard to find.

Some people have begun thinking outside of the box and heading to local restaurants to get the ingredients they need.

The owner of Sweet Cafe in Eagle Rock said they have been selling anything they can and have definitely noticed the carb frenzy.

"We have this instant yeast that will hold half of the shelflife in the fridge," she said.

Red Star Yeast posted a statement saying they know yeast is difficult to find and that the demand is unprecedented.

Cooking student Jessica Maxwell began to learn how to make sourdough when yeast became scarce.

According to experts, the yeast shortage won't last long as it only takes suppliers a couple of weeks to grow and ship a batch.