A truckload of ribs vanished in Mexico last month, nearly killing Shake Shack's newest menu item. The CEO says the chain almost ran out.

Craig T Fruchtman | Getty Images

A rib robbery in Mexico almost cooked Shake Shack’s new BBQ sandwich. A truckload carrying more than 1,000 racks of boneless baby back ribs was stolen south of the border last month, sending the burger chain scrambling to keep its premium BBQ Boneless Baby Back Rib Sandwich on menus. “I mean, you can’t make this up,” CEO Rob Lynch told analysts at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference.

The sandwich launched in late April as part of a Smoky BBQ menu platform and helped lift sales 8% by early May. Lynch said the company put all hands on deck to source enough ribs to meet demand. Shake Shack even leaned into the chaos on social media, wishing Happy National BBQ Day to everyone except the baby back bandits.

Shake Shack isn’t alone. Cargo theft losses in the US surged 60% last year to nearly $725 million, with food and beverage products seeing the largest increase. In March, 12 tons of KitKat bars vanished in transit between Italy and Poland.

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