Amid the nationwide surge in the prices of tomatoes, fast-food chain McDonald’s in Delhi has issued a notice stating that it would not be able to serve its products with tomatoes due to “seasonal issues” in procurement.
A social media user named Aditya Saha shared an image on Twitter showing a notice put up by a McDonald’s store in Delhi. “🚨Mcdonald’s, Delhi put up this notice! Even Mcdonalds cannot afford tomatoes now!😂😂,” the caption read.
Many netizens took to social media to express their opinion. One user tweeted that the supply-demand gap is causing difficulties in the situation. Restaurants and QSR chains typically do not consider price fluctuations as they operate on fixed rates for an entire year.
Meanwhile, the official 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. 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 tomatoes to our menu very soon.”
However, the brand has not cited the high price of the vegetable as the reason for the lack of tomatoes on its menu.
The prices of tomatoes have significantly risen in northern regions. Prices of tomatoes in Delhi, Kolkata, and Uttar Pradesh have reached ₹130-155 per kg. According to news reports, the price of tomatoes has touched ₹150 in Moradabad, while rates in the rest of the country also continue to surge. It is being sold at ₹129 per kg in Delhi’s Safal store.