OTTAWA -- First in the pandemic lockdown, there was shortage on toilet paper, then on Lysol wipes, then on baking ingredients like as flour and yeast. Now, the demand for barbecue charcoal is red-hot and that's making it difficult to find bags of it in stock.
Chris Story prefers cooking with charcoal, he says.
“It tastes different; it’s a little more back to basics. It's one of the things that’s quite enjoyable to do over the summer.”
This summer, however, he says he’s had a tough time finding charcoal,
“All of a sudden I couldn’t get charcoal anymore; I tried a bunch of different places.”
He’s not alone.
Joe Whittfield is with Capital BBQ, a brick and mortar BBQ speciality store in Ottawa that also sells online.
“We have none in the store right now, and I have 500 hundred bags coming in on Thursday,” which, Whittfield says, will sell out.
Manufacturers, such as Jean-Claude Bacle with Basque Hardwood Charcoal in Quebec are trying to keep up with the demand,
“By the time they arrive, they give me a call and say - do you have some more?”
Bacle says they’ve seen an increased interest in the past three to four years, but demand has spiked this summer. He thinks it’s because more people are spending time at home,
“It started probably in the month of April or May. The first thing they wanted to do is try and find a sense of normality, so I think the best place they could have it is in the backyard.”
Basque Hardwood Charcoal ships throughout North America to restaurants, speciality stores, and Costco. Bacle says the process of making charcoal takes about 6-7 days and they produce 60-70 tonnes per week.
“If everything goes well, we can produce 1,500 to 2,000 bags a day,” he says.
Whittfield also thinks the increased demand for charcoal is because more people are grilling, and he compares the high-demand for charcoal with other shortages.
“Just because of so many people at home, they’re doing a lot more cooking. We’ve seen that in other products with flour and that sort of thing as well, so charcoal is just another one of those commodities.”
WHY CHARCOAL?
If you haven’t cooked with charcoal, why choose it over gas or electric heat?
Bacle says it’s all about the taste, and “With charcoal, you’re playing with fire.”
Whittfield thinks the foodie movement has also helped charcoal gain popularity.
“They want the best taste, and that’s going to come off charcoal.”
He says if you want to get started with charcoal, you can start with something simple,
“For a very small amount of money, you get yourself a nice charcoal barbecue and start cooking primo food.”
