Why you can’t get this simple supermarket item anywhere

A popular food trend has meant that shoppers cannot find one particular basic supermarket item anywhere.

A popular food trend has meant that one particular basic supermarket item keeps selling out, leaving shoppers to hunt for it.

The Hot Honey Sweet Potato Beef Bowl went crazy on TikTok last week, and it features one key ingredient – cottage cheese. It’s been made popular by content creators such as Michael Finch and Danielle Mitchell.

But it’s meant that cottage cheese had been incredibly hard to find on the shelves. Tina Provis, who appeared on the most recent season of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, said she couldn’t find any cottage cheese at her local supermarket.

“I just got all the ingredients for that viral sweet potato beef bowl,” she said.

“Are we joking? Have we really sold out cottage cheese over this?”

And she wasn’t the only one who was having issues tracking down the dairy product.

“omg I literally went to three supermarkets today for it! I blame Michael Finch hahaha,” one said.

Another added: “It’s honestly so annoying for us who use cottage cheese on the regular before this viral bowl.”

“I went to five supermarkets today for cottage cheese but it was indeed worth it,” another said.

One asked: “Is this why I couldn’t get any cottage cheese yesterday?”

Tina Provis couldn't find cottage cheese at her local supermarket. Picture: Tina Provis/Instagram

There was none on the shelf. Picture: Tina Provis/TikTok

A Coles spokesperson told news.com.au that cottage cheese had indeed been slightly harder to find. But customers shouldn’t fear, because supplies are constantly improving.

“We know that cottage cheese has had a massive boost in its popularity over the past year, with healthy high-protein, low-fat snack trending on social media,” a Coles spokesperson told news.com.au.

“Our suppliers have been working hard to keep up with this increase in demand, but we have been seeing tubs flying off the shelf faster than we can keep up.

“In good news for cottage cheese lovers, supplies are improving – so customers can expect to see more cottage cheese tubs on the shelves as the health-conscious eating trend continues to grow.”

The Hot Honey Sweet Potato Beef Bowl was made popular on TikTok last week, and it features cottage cheese. Picture: TikTok/Michael Finch

A Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au a similar thing.

“We have seen an increased demand for cottage cheese from our customers. We know some customers are seeking high protein, low fat options and are choosing the product for health reasons, while others have also seen it trending on social media as a versatile ingredient to use in recipes,” the spokesperson said.

“We are continuously working with our suppliers to increase availability for our customers.”

But the viral recipe hasn’t only stripped cottage cheese from supermarket shelves, with customers also having a hard time finding Mingle’s taco seasoning.

It’s been made by popular content creators such Michael Finch and Danielle Mitchell. Picture: TikTok/Danielle Mitchell

Jordyn Evans, founder of Mingle Seasoning, told news.com.au: “We’ve seen customers wanting more high protein meal inspiration, so seeing trends like the ‘healthy girl bowl’ go viral and using Mingle is exciting.

“Since this trend has taken off last week, Mingle has had its best week ever in supermarkets and we have sold out of our iconic Taco Seasoning in a majority of supermarkets. The power of TikTok on the sales of small businesses can’t be underestimated and we can see customers taking action and going into supermarket to recreate these recipes immediately.”

The Mingle Seasoning founder added this isn’t the first time this year that a social media trend has driven sales to their products.

“We have also seen customers shopping for Mingle more than ever after the rise in viral meal prep style content using our recipe bases and of course last year our Everything Bagel Seasoning with the viral cucumber salad trend,” he said.

Originally published as Why you can’t get this simple supermarket item anywhere