Cultured masses: Ritson on the great yoghurt shortage of 2026

Last Tuesday, somewhere between Sydney’s Bondi Junction Woolworths and a Tiktok rabbit hole, something happened to the Australian yoghurt aisle. It vanished. Not metaphorically. Literally. Shelf after apologetically signposted shelf emptied to its white carcass. A nation that once fretted about avocado prices is now, with equal frenzy, refreshing the Coles app at 7am hoping Chobani is restocked before school pickup.

The struggle is real. Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi have issued statements last week acknowledging they are working with suppliers to manage the crisis. “Despite our suppliers increasing production to keep pace, current demand continues to exceed supply.” The shortage, which began in earnest in late 2025, is now entering its fourth month. Inner-city stores are hardest hit. If you’re shopping after 4pm in Surry Hills or Fitzroy, consider buying a dairy.

Five factors collided to create this mess. The first is protein-maxxing – a social media phenomenon in which Tiktok influencers promote high-protein diets as the solution to everything from weight loss to mood change. High-protein Greek yoghurt sits at the centre of this movement. Dr Fiona Willer, president of Dietitians Australia, noted diplomatically this week that the human body’s protein requirements have not suddenly increased. But an internet of idiots disagrees, and the internet of idiots always wins. It is, like the product at the heart of all this, a culture thing.

The second colliding trend is even sillier and more acute. A rando in Japan noticed that if you wedge sablé biscuits into Greek yoghurt and refrigerate it, you get something vaguely resembling cheesecake. I know, I know. But within weeks Australian micro-influencers were plunging Tim Tams into Chobani like there was no tomorrow. The #japaneseyoghurtcheesecake trend now has millions of views and thousands of empty yoghurt pots in its wake.