HAVE you noticed a lack of your favourite fizzy drink on the shelf when doing your grocery shop?
Well if so, here's why.
Carbonated soft drinks have been hit with a shortage and it's not because of the taste or colour - it's that missing sound of cracking open a cold can or releasing pressure from a bottle.
The stuff that makes them fizz is missing.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key production piece that's gone missing from certain carbonated beverage products.
The shortage is hitting stockists across Australia including ALDI, Coles, Woolworths, IGA and FoodWorks.
Impacted brands are understood to be those manufactured by global beverage company Refresco.
They include Black & Gold, Tru Blu Beverages, Waterfords, and LA Ice cola.
There are only a handful of facilities producing food-grade carbon dioxide in Australia, with just two companies supplying the entire domestic market.
One of those two uses Orica's Kooragang Island site.
The British multinational BOC told ACM it was "managing a CO2 supply situation" after outages across several plants hit local production hard.
"Product has been imported to bridge the supply gap however due to many current issues impacting international freight, supply has been impacted except for critical medical, safety and water treatment customers," a spokesperson said.
An Orica spokesperson told the Herald to ensure safe and reliable manufacturing operations the Kooragang Island site is undertaking a previously communicated turnaround.
"The production of carbon dioxide is a by-product of ammonia manufacturing, which will be offline due to the scheduled works. We will ensure supply is resumed as soon as the turnaround has been completed," they said.
The Herald understands Woolworths, Coles and ALDI own brand drinks are also widely unavailable across stores.
A Woolworths spokesperson said on Monday that CO2 shortages had impacted the supply of some soft drinks in their stores but did not clarify which ones.
"We are working to manage these impacts and a number of alternative products are available to customers while these shortages continue," they said.
Coles said they were not expecting major impacts to its customers but confirmed they are keeping a close eye on the situation.
ALDI confirmed some products were affected by the CO2 shortage and that they are working with supply partners to return stock to normal availability as soon as possible.
Asahi Beverages Australia manufactures and distributes PepsiCo, Schweppes, Solo, Sunkist and other brands, and a spokesperson said they were not affected by the shortage.
"We have adequate supply of CO2 to meet production requirements," an Asahi Beverages spokesperson said.
The Newcastle Herald contacted IGA, FoodWorks and Refresco for comment.
