As prices surge, fast food giant McDonald's drops tomatoes from its menu

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, July 7

As prices surge, McDonald’s has started serving tomato-less burgers and wraps at its outlets in the country. The giant American fast food chain has also put up notices at their selling points in this regard.

“We are ever committed to serve you the best food with the best of ingredients. Despite our best efforts, we are not able to get adequate quantities of tomatoes which have to pass our world-class stringent quality checks. Hence, for the time being, we are forced to serve you products without tomatoes. We are working to get the tomato supplies back. We value your patronage and regret the inconvenience caused,” reads the notice put up by McDonald’s.

Notably, the country has been witnessing a sharp rise in retail prices of tomatoes.

The Union Government has blamed the “seasonal hike” for this sudden rise in prices.

Meanwhile, according to the data maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs, the average price of tomatoes, on an all-India basis, was Rs 106.67 per kg on July 7, while the maximum price of the essential ingredient on Friday was Rs 162.

In the major cities, the prices stood at Rs 152 per kg in Kolkata, Rs 147 per kg in Lucknow, Rs 100 per kg in Shimla, Rs 140 per kg in Delhi and Rs 102 per kg in Amritsar.

Experts say that there would be no relief anytime soon in the retail prices of the staple vegetable. Currently, tomato is being harvested only in Himachal Pradesh. However, tomato production in parts of the state was hit by untimely rain in May. Therefore, suppliers were not able to meet the overwhelming demand.

Notably, Himachal is a minor tomato-producing state that cultivates nearly 2.8 per cent of the total tomato production in the country.