Canning jars and supplies are in short supply in some areas. Jacob Pucci

Those of you who can fruits and vegetables may have noticed a short supply of jars and lids. It’s a shortage that is being chalked up, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marie Bregg of Mason Jar Merchant told Better Homes & Gardens that sales through her online shop in late August were up about 600% over any other month in 2020, and 90% of that has been canning lids.

According to CNN, most of the demand is for the two-part lids used in canning, because they are single-use, whereas the glass jars can be used over and over. The lids have a disc that sits on the mouth of the jar with a ring that screws on around it, but after one use, the seal around the disc breaks down. If you do reuse them, you can risk contracting botulism, experts say.

Bregg said the surge in canning can be understood within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people stuck in their homes in the spring began looking for something to do. Many turned to baking bread, or planting backyard gardens. Experienced canners had more time for their hobby, while novices were willing to try.

Joel MacCharles, co-founder of the website Well Preserved, said those springtime gardens “meant that people for the first time are going to have either their first-time crops or bigger crops than they’ve had before. They’re going to have to do something with it."

Newell Brands, which manufactures the leading brands of canning jars like Ball and Kerr, said it has increased glass production, found additional lid manufacturers and expanded pack out locations to replenish stock as quickly as possible.

if you can’t wait, Bregg suggests you try Bernardin, a Canadian company also manufactured by Newell.

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