Why Your Chick-Fil-A Might Have Boxes Stacked In The Dining Area

Customer service is always priority No. 1 at Chick-fil-A, as proven by the chain's seven-year run atop the American Customer Satisfaction Index's rankings. Interior decoration? Not so important — at least not according to the ever-vigilant Chick-fil-A customers on Reddit. A Redditor posted a photo of a row of boxes stacked more than six feet high, in a not-too-conspicuous but still visible part of the dining room. "Are all CFA's like this?" the poster asked. Chick-fil-A employees and customers proceeded to comment with their supply chain war stories.

Some Chick-fil-A managers have taken to hoarding, it seems. When they can order a scarce item, Redditors said, they will order a lot. "Many are like that because shipping isn't regular anymore," Redditor Chicagoan81 commented. "So we have to order a lot of certain products when they become available. That way we still have products to sell when shipping is delayed."

Some of the Chick-fil-A employees commenting on the post sounded confident that the photo showed boxes of the chain's immensely popular dipping sauces. "Why do they need that many sauce boxes?" one commenter asked. "You'd be surprised by the amount of food people will order and how many sauces they'll ask for," another replied.

Chick-fil-A has been dealing with a sauce shortage for months now. The chain first let customers know about it in May, according to Fortune. At the time, Chick-fil-A chalked the problem up to the dreaded "supply chain shortages," which have been happening all across the economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chain problems hit at least one Chick-fil-A in North Carolina especially hard, according to the Reddit post. "My niece works at a location in NC and her site was closed for nearly a week as their local distributor was closed due to nearly all staff had COVID," Redditor Katiesbigsister commented. "They had nothing to cook."

Dipping sauces aren't Chick-fil-A's only supply issue. Some employees are taking to Reddit to report a shortage of Powerade. "We can't order more than maybe one or two boxes of Powerade a week anymore," a commenter posted on that Reddit thread. The problem isn't limited to Chick-fil-A, either. "I don't work at CFA but another fast food place. Corporate sent us an alert that there will be a shortage on Powerade, go figure," Reddit user WestExamination9697 said.

That particular supply chain problem might be traceable all the way to the source: Powerade parent Coca-Cola. CNN reported back in October 2020 that Powerade and other brands in Coca-Cola's hydration category could be cut due to slow sales during the pandemic.