homebusiness Newscompanies NewsMcDonald’s drops tomatoes from menu items, calls it ‘temporary’ issue
McDonald’s drops tomatoes from menu items, calls it ‘temporary’ issue
McDonald's India - North and East in its statement said that due to seasonal issues, they were unable to procure tomatoes that pass their "world-class, stringent quality check."
McDonald's India - North and East on Friday announced that it was dropping tomatoes from its menu items due to a "temporary" seasonal issue in procurement. In a statement issued on July 7, the spokesperson of McDonald's India - North and East said that the fast food chain is "constrained to serve tomatoes" in its menu items due to "seasonal issues."
The West and South franchise of McDonald's India said that while 10-15 percent of its stores have stopped serving tomatoes, the company is not facing any "serious tomato-related issues" currently. It pointed out that fruit flies are a "common annoyance" during the monsoon and that if found, flawed batches of tomatoes are discarded.
"This is a seasonal problem that the restaurant and food industry has to face every monsoon," McDonald's India - West and South said.
ALSO READ | Tomato farmer in Karnataka suffers Rs 2.5 lakh loss as thieves strike amidst soaring prices
Burger King, on the other hand, has announced that it has tomatoes in its restaurants, currently. While the American burger chain is facing issues with procurement, tomatoes will be made available to guests "as long as quality is good."
The statement by Burger King read, "We do have challenges on availability but will continue to make available to guest as long as quality is good. Currently we have tomatoes in our restaurants."
While McDonald's India - North and East has not attributed the lack of tomatoes in its menu to rising prices, the cost of the fruit-cum-vegetable in India has skyrocketed due to heavy rainfall. Seasonal issues have affected supply chains, transportation and crop quality. Tomato prices in places like Delhi, Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh have reached Rs 130-155 per kg.
ALSO READ | Centre expects seasonal tomato prices to cool down soon, shortlists 13 ideas for onion storage
McDonald's India - North and East in its statement said that due to seasonal issues, they were unable to procure tomatoes that pass their "world-class, stringent quality check."
The entire statement by McDonald's India - North and East read, "As a brand committed to the highest standards of food quality and safety, we use ingredients only after rigorous food quality and safety checks. However, due to seasonal issues and despite our best efforts, we are not able to procure tomatoes that pass our world-class, stringent quality checks."
The company went on to add, "Hence, we are constrained to serve tomatoes in our menu items at some of our restaurants. This is a temporary issue and we would like to reassure our customers that we are looking at all possible ways to bring back tomato in our menu very soon."
Several state governments have jumped into action to bring down the rising cost of tomatoes. In West Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee-led government has taken cognisance of the issue and directed its own retailing network, Sufal Bangala, to deliver fair prices at Rs 115 per kg.
In Tamil Nadu, the government is working to sell tomatoes at a subsidised rate of Rs 60 per kg through fairprice shops.
MMG Group is McDonald's partner for North and East India, while Westlife Foodworld is the partner for South and West India.
First Published: Jul 7, 2023 11:00 AM IST
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