Have you heard that the world is facing a pulp shortage? As a small stationery company, we’ve been having trouble sourcing materials and maintaining margins, because paper prices have gone up quickly in the last few years. (And it’s not just due to the toilet paper hoarding!)

After doing a bit of digging, we found out that it started in 2020, when millions of people stayed home to fight the Covid-19 spread. This led to the explosion of online shopping, which in turn saw many paper mills pivoting to producing shipping supplies, even as others shut down entirely due to shortage of labour. More recently, there has been a severe shortage of lumber and pulp, exacerbated by the Russo-Ukrainian War and the closure of European and Asian borders due to Covid-19. Lastly, freight costs increased exponentially. All of these factors have made it difficult for the paper mills that are still in operation to operate at their normal capacity.

Since 2020, our suppliers have been often sold out of what we need. We’ve had to be less choosy and work with what we can get, from envelopes to card stock to shipping boxes. If you’ve received a card from us with an envelope whose colour doesn’t match the photo online, that is likely why.

In order to lessen the strain on a supply chain that’s already in crisis, we are taking more care to eliminate new packaging. We’re doing our best to use recycled materials as much as we can, so your order from us may likely arrive in reused packaging. We promise that we don’t use materials that are compromised, but their appearance might have a bit more character than the parcels you’re used to receiving from us.

As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions. Let’s keep this conversation going and learn together.