As Australia grills through a lettuce shortage, fast food giants like KFC have replaced lettuce with cabbage in their burgers to hedge exorbitant costs.
What Happened: “We’ve hit a bit of an Iceberg and are currently experiencing some lettuce supply chain disruptions due to the impacts of the recent Queensland and NSW floods,” KFC said.
Floods across the east coast of Australia have destroyed local lettuce crops, leaving chains like KFC to grapple with an ingredient shortage for the second time this year. In January, it had to cut items from its menu on severe chicken shortages.
“We’re working with our multiple suppliers to provide them with support, but we do expect disruptions to continue in the coming days,” it added.
The American fast-food chain KFC is owned by Yum! Brands Inc (NYSE: YUM).
Social Media Outrage
Australian residents have also been hit by soaring prices of fruits and vegetables, and several have taken to social media to express their ire.
One Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) user posted a bill showing that they paid A$12 ($8.61) for a head of iceberg lettuce.
According to government forecaster Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, consumer prices in Australia rose strongly in the last quarter, by 4.9% for fruit and 6.6% for vegetables.
