I'm facing a problem I've never had in 20+ years of business. When my dad and I ran restaurants, we never hit a point where I couldn't buy…
By Christopher Hamze · Archived October 2, 2026
I'm facing a problem I've never had in 20+ years of business.
When my dad and I ran restaurants, we never hit a point where I couldn't buy pepperoni.
When I built teelaunch, there was never a Gildan shirt shortage.
Grow the business, order more, done. That's how it worked.
Izzi's is different. Every time we do something that works, my first thought isn't "great" — it's "where is the inventory going to come from?"
Sealed product is allocated and limited. And now that everyone's buying singles and slabs across a dozen online and offline channels, the secondary market is tight too.
So people tell me "isn't it awesome Izzi's keeps getting busier?"
Yes. And also — I have no idea what I'm going to sell all these people.
Turns out demand isn't always the hard part.