---
title: "Taco Bell Reveals Cause of Great Tortilla Shortage"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/f87b8071-3ea8-4368-9352-ef7c6f970675
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/taco-bell-reveals-cause-of-the-great-tortilla-shortage-2710660
category: "Mexican"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Mexican"
published: 2019-08-06T22:17:01.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:31:34.022Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/79bb0aef4942fd4e887ddda497057904153.jpg
---

# Taco Bell Reveals Cause of Great Tortilla Shortage

**TL;DR:** Taco Bell's tortilla shortage was caused by its supplier, not an internal issue. The shortage affected sales in select locations but did not prevent overall sales growth of 10% and same-store sales growth of 7% in Q2.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2019-08-06. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/taco-bell-reveals-cause-of-the-great-tortilla-shortage-2710660).*

## Story

Although Taco Bells' "Tortillapocalypse" has been over for a few weeks, the fast-food chain has kept relatively silent about the cause of the shortage. According to an article on RestaurantDive, the tortilla drought has officially been blamed on Taco Bell's supplier as opposed to an internal issue.

On a recent earnings call, Yum Brand's CEO Greg Creed acknowledged last month's viral event, claiming that the shortage affected sales in select locations. Still, Taco Bell saw an overall sales growth of 10% and same-store sales growth of 7% in Q2.

As the article points out, "this shortage highlights how important suppliers are to companies' operations...supplier's risk factors are important metrics for companies to follow."

While the "Tortillapocalypse" did result in one passionate 911 call, it appears that Taco Bell made it through unscathed.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Taco Bell (company)
- Yum Brands (company)
- sales growth (topic)
- qsr operations (topic)
- RestaurantDive (regulator)
- tortilla shortage (topic)
- supplier issue (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/taco-bell-reveals-cause-of-the-great-tortilla-shortage-2710660). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/f87b8071-3ea8-4368-9352-ef7c6f970675).