Peanut Butter Prices are getting ready to increase thanks to a peanut shortage.

Considering that peanut butter is used daily on most Health Care Facilities menus either as a main dish or more commonly used as sandwiches or snacks, this will create a need to become creative.

Exactly how much more expensive is peanut butter going to be? Well, we’re not talking peanuts here. The estimate ranges between a 25 and 40 percent peanut butter price increase. Ouch.

The peanut shortage is traced back to last spring, according to Time, when farmers saw dollar signs in their fields… in the form of cotton. Cotton sold at record-high prices last spring, so many farmers decided to plant cotton instead of peanuts.

Add some bad luck to the mix — disease and drought in the peanut fields that existed — and we’re short on peanuts. The current economy isn’t helping, either, as peanut butter has become more popular in the past few years, thanks to the reasonably priced protein it provides.

So, Are there any alternatives to peanut butter?

Prime Source is working on solutions for this future problem and will post as they become available.