McDonald’s India – North and East on Friday announced that they will be dropping tomatoes from their menu items due to a ‘temporary’ seasonal issue in procurement. The fast food chain issued a statement on Friday which stated that their restaurants will not be serving tomatoes for due to “seasonal issues.”
The West and South franchise of McDonald’s India stated that around 10-15 per cent of their restaurants have dropped tomatoes from their menu items, however, they haven’t been facing any major “tomato-related issues.” It pointed out that fruit flies are a “common annoyance” during the monsoon and that if found, flawed batches of tomatoes are discarded. Their statement read, “This is a seasonal problem that the restaurant and food industry has to face every monsoon.”
Meanwhile, Burger King has announced that it has tomatoes in its restaurants currently. The American fast food chain stated that they are facing issues to the procurement of the fruit but will be make it available to their customers “as long as quality is good.”
While McDonald’s India – North and West has not restricted tomatoes in its menu items due to rise in prices, the cost of fruit-cum-vegetable in India skyrocketed due to heavy rainfall. Seasonal issues have affected supply chains, transportation and crop quality. The places such as Delhi, Kolkata, and Uttar Pradesh, the price of tomatoes have reached Rs 130 – Rs 155 per kg.
