Having A Hard Time Finding Cream Cheese? Kraft Will Give You $20 To Make Another Dessert

With a cream cheese shortage causing some cooks to rearrange their holiday menus, Kraft (KHC) will pay $20 to 18,000 consumers who are unable to make their Christmas cheesecake this year.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese is hard to come by this holiday baking season, and instead of ignoring the supply chain issue, Kraft has owned up to product disruption, announcing that it will reimburse consumers who make or buy a different holiday dessert through its Philadelphia Spread the Feeling promotion.

In a promotional video, the company said, “This is not an empty shelf, it's a holiday tradition waiting another year. This year, turn that famous cheesecake into those famous brownies. Share some cookies, anything that will make you feel anything in that cheesecake-shaped hole in your holiday heart.”

Consumers can sign up for a chance to receive the $20 digital giveaway at SpreadTheFeeling.com at 12 p.m. ET on Friday. There will be 10,000 spots for the giveaway on Friday and an additional 8,000 spots at noon on Saturday.

To enter, consumers will need to submit a store or restaurant receipt with a dessert or dessert ingredient of any price dated from Dec. 17 to Dec. 24 to qualify. Entrants who receive a reservation spot will get a unique link to submit their receipt from Dec. 28 at 9 a.m. through Jan. 4, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

The $20 digital reward will be sent within two to four weeks, Kraft said.

In 2020, the demand for cream cheese increased by 18% from a year earlier as more people ate and baked at home and has continued to stay at a high level, according to Kraft, as reported by CNN.

Kraft has been working to meet the staggering demand for its cream cheese, as a spokesperson for the company told USA Today in an email that it is “maximizing our production to meet unprecedented demand," adding that it was “shipping 30-35% more product to foodservice partners vs. a year ago."

As of Wednesday at 10:33 a.m. ET, shares of Kraft were trading at $34.84, up 6 cents, or 0.17%.