If your typical creatine order seems unusually expensive or completely unavailable, it's not some twisted meat nightmare -- a shortage of creatine is affecting consumers and supplement companies alike. Popular brands either have no good stuff at all or have nearly doubled their prices over the past few months.
Before the pandemic, supplements such as creatine helped fuel the industry's steady annual growth of about 5%. But in April 2020 -- when the pandemic began -- sales were 44% higher than in the same period in 2019. (1) With gyms closed and health and hygiene in the news cycle, people are buying supplements at an alarming pace. However, this frenzy comes at a price.
Higher demand for products such as whey protein, multivitamins, and especially creatine poses challenges throughout the supply chain. For creatine products in particular, the pandemic has slowly but surely created severe shortages. As a result, the cost of creatine has steadily climbed—with no end in sight.
Creatine maintained a stable average price in early 2021. At the same time a year later, it could easily double in price with "more to come".
