New Zealand drink makers slash production as CO2 shortage strikes

A New Zealand bartender pours a beer. Some drinks producers have slashed production owing to a national shortage of CO2. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

Trouble has bubbled up for New Zealand’s craft breweries and soda makers, with a shortage of carbon dioxide leaving their drinks un-fizzed.

A temporary shutdown of New Zealand’s only liquid carbon dioxide plant has prompted beer and soda makers to slash production at the height of summer and warn of drink supplies drying up.