Fast-food giant KFC has been forced to add cabbage to its burgers and wraps in Australia as the country struggles with lettuce shortages.
The company told customers it was using a mix of lettuce and cabbage after floods destroyed the lettuce crop.
It comes as buyers in Australia have been hit by rising prices for fresh fruit and vegetables.
Social media users have posted photos of salads costing over AUD$10 ($7.18; £5.72), triple the usual price.
On its website, KFC Australia said: “Due to the recent flooding in NSW [New South Wales] and QLD [Queensland] We currently have a lettuce shortage. Therefore, until further notice, we will be using a lettuce and cabbage mix for all products that contain lettuce.”
“If that’s not your bag, just click ‘adjust’ on your selected product and remove lettuce from the recipe,” it added, signing it with a smiley face emoji.
- The popular Singapore dish under threat
- Food export bans are a cause for concern
- Why chicken is getting more and more expensive
It’s not the first time this year that the company has been hit by food shortages.
In January, KFC Australia had to change its menu because it was missing the main ingredient, chicken.
The reason for this was a staff shortage at Australia’s largest chicken supplier Ingham’s due to the “rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the eastern Australian states” at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest fast-food company, McDonald’s, suffered from a shortage of chips at some of its Asian branches, including in Japan and Singapore, due to the global supply chain crisis.
Like countries around the world, Australia has been hit by food supply chain problems caused by the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.
Australian food production has also been impacted by extreme weather events such as major east coast flooding earlier this year.
This helped push up the cost of living for Australians, with consumer prices rising 5.1% in the first three months of 2022.
It was the country’s highest inflation rate in 20 years, with expectations that it could rise even higher.
Add Comment