Heavy rains and floods have decimated lettuce crops over the past year, squeezing the supply and increasing prices.
Australia is facing a lettuce shortage that has led to soaring prices and spurred global fast food giant KFC to put cabbage in its burgers, while some Subway outlets are making do without the staple vegetable.
Bill Bulmer, a Victorian grower and chair of industry body AusVeg, said he had recently toured farms in Queensland.Intermittent rains have made it harder to replant fresh crops as well, he said. That could result in a “yo-yo” effect where supply comes and goes over coming months. Woolworths and Coles are still both advertising $5.50 per head of iceberg lettuce, but it is unavailable in most Woolworths stores around inner Sydney and Melbourne, according to its website. A Coles spokesman would not comment specifically on lettuce supplies but said the company was supporting its growers in flood-affected areas.amid shortages of chicken. Some Subway stores have also had to post signs recently informing patrons that lettuce is in short supply or out of stock.
While elevated prices, which have seen some growers receive $80 to $100 per scarce box of lettuce rather than a typical $14 to $16, are largely the result of climate events, Australia is still grappling with pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and persistent labour shortages, as well as the spikes in fertiliser and fuel prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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