Kellogg's: Atlanta floods led to waffle shortage

By David Markiewicz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Leggo my Eggo?

You'll have to find one first, and thanks in part to Atlanta's rainy weather that may not be so easy for a while.

Kellogg Company said that due to "a confluence of events" -- including flooding at its Bucknell Drive manufacturing facility -- Eggo brand frozen waffles will be in short supply for some time to come.

Grocery store inventories, the company said, are expected to remain limited through the first half of 2010.

The Atlanta plant, south of I-20 and west of I-285 near Thornton Road, opened in 1969 when it was owned by Fearn International. Kellogg temporarily halted production in September due to flooding driven by heavy rains, the company said.

Kellogg said the Atlanta facility is back in production. But problems with equipment at the company's largest waffle bakery in Rossville, Tenn. require extensive repairs and improvements, taking several lines out of operation.

The Eggo shortage is nationwide, the company said.

"We are working around the clock to restore Eggo store inventories to normal levels as quickly as possible," Kellogg spokesperson Kris Charles said.

Kellogg said that for competitive reasons  it doesn't disclose the number of employees at the Bucknell Drive plant, or the number or variety of waffles it produces annually.