In many regions of India, McDonald’s restaurants have stopped serving tomatoes with their burgers and wraps due to supply issues and concerns about the vegetable’s quality after record-breaking price increases.

The traditional Indian food staple’s wholesale costs in some areas have increased 288% in a month, reaching a high of 140 rupees ($1.7) per kg on Friday. As a result, many people have reduced their usage.

The government attributes the higher pricing of tomatoes to a season of low output during which monsoon rains interfere with transportation and distribution, but customers have recently faced higher prices for a variety of goods, from milk to spices.

“Despite our best efforts, we are not able to get adequate quantities of tomatoes which pass our stringent quality checks,” read notices posted in two McDonald’s stores in New Delhi, the capital.

“We are forced to serve you products without tomatoes.”

The issue, according to store management, is not related to pricing but rather to quality problems in the supply chain.

Connaught Plaza Restaurants, a McDonald’s franchisee in India’s north and east with roughly 150 locations, explained the choice as being due to “temporary” seasonal problems in a statement to the media.

However, Westlife Foodworld, the McDonald’s franchisee for western and southern India with 357 outlets, said that “no serious tomato-related issues” existed.

It claimed that the issue, which was seasonal, caused 10% to 15% of its stores to temporarily stop offering tomatoes.

However, tomato ketchup sachets are still available at McDonald’s locations in Delhi, while a nearby Subway restaurant reported no problems with supplying tomatoes.

Vegetable vendor Vijay Sharma in Mumbai, India’s financial centre, reported a decline in sales from his previous daily average of 40 kg (88 lb) in sales.

“Most of my customers have stopped buying tomatoes,” he said. “Now, I only bring five kilos.”

Indians are consuming fewer tomatoes, so some companies provide substitutes.

“Tomato prices running high? Cook with tomato puree instead!” exhorts an advertisement among the results thrown up by a search for tomatoes on the BigBasket shopping app of the Tata conglomerate.

(Adapted from ThePrint.in)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Regulations & Legal, Strategy, Sustainability, Uncategorized