‘For the moment’: New fast food fears as cabbage prices spike amid shortages

The world was stunned when Australia’s fast food chains were forced to make a change to their burgers as vegetable prices soared. Now they’re facing a new threat.

Australia’s veggie crisis made international headlines after it forced KFC and other fast food giants to swap lettuce for cabbage on their iconic burgers.

But with cabbage prices now also skyrocketing to $9 and beyond, there are fears that it too could soon become a luxury few can afford.

Whole cabbages are currently out of stock at Woolworths, with half cabbages selling for $3.50 a pop, or $5.20 for half an organic green cabbage.

Over at Coles, a whole organic cabbage fetches $10, while mini red and Drumhead cabbages are listed for $5.90 each, and at Harris Farm, a whole cabbage will set you back an eye-watering $11.29.

For now, Aussie fast food chains have not responded to the cabbage price spike, with Craveable Brands – which includes Red Rooster, Oporto and Chicken Treat – ominously confirming that “for the moment there is no issue with our cabbage/lettuce mix supply”, while KFC also had no news at this stage.

But with the price of cabbage and other leafy green veggies such as broccoli spiking, there are fears they too could soon be pushed off menus.

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Cabbage has not escaped the veggie crisis.

National Farmers Federation economist Ash Salardini told news.com.au Australia was experiencing “food inflation” across the board at the moment, due to a range of factors including soaring fuel and power prices and worker shortages.

Mr Salardini said food inflation was now slightly ahead of the general rate of inflation, and that the price of some items in particular were experiencing specific surges.

He said the sudden peak in demand for cabbage had likely helped to push up costs, along with other local factors.

“When lettuce got expensive, people started using cabbage, and prices have gone up for that reason,” he said.

“Also, food is seasonal – at the moment it’s the right season in northern NSW and Queensland, but it’s too cold in Victoria, and floods and other disturbances to the workforce has limited supply.

“Two to three months from now we’re probably not going to have the same issue, but overall, while some things are now going up, others are the cheapest they’ve ever been.”

Mr Salardini pointed out that avocados were now around $5 a kilo, while bananas were $2 a kilo – two items that in the past had spiked to ridiculous levels before dropping down again.

“Unless something else happens, in two to three months we should have more normal supply and because most vegetables are produced domestically, once domestic issues are resolved, we’ll get back on track,” he said.

“However, the big issue is workforce numbers, with an increase in prices because we have fewer people picking and packing.”

Lettuce is disappearing from burgers as prices jump. Picture: iStock

He added that global wheat shortages meant prices for products like bread and pasta had already risen and would stay elevated for six to 12 months, while a shortfall in milk supplies was also on the cards for the next six to 12 months.

Meanwhile, Shaun Lindhe, spokesman for the industry body for Australian vegetable producers, AUSVEG, told news.com.au the pain would be here to stay for the next few months at least.

“There have been multiple significant flooding and rain events in key winter vegetable growing regions, particularly across southern Queensland, which is resulting in current shortages of many crops that are supplied from the region at this time of year,” Mr Lindhe said.

“Growers all over the country are also facing severe increases in the cost of production, with global economic factors resulting in increases in costs of production, including fertiliser, fuel, chemicals as a result of global shipping issues and the war on Ukraine, as well as wages pressure due to the shortage of labour in Australia.

“These issues are not isolated to individual crops; given southern Queensland is a major winter vegetable growing region, these conditions are affecting different crops from that region, including lettuce, broccoli, beans and tomatoes.”

Mr Lindhe urged customers to remember that farmers were seriously struggling at the moment.

“It could take a few months for supply to increase once other regions have increased their supply, but it is important to remember that cost of production pressures on growers will likely remain for longer,” he said.

“Growers are doing it really tough at the moment, and are facing emotional and financial stress from weather events and increasing costs of production.

“We urge consumers to continue to support growers where they can and buy fresh produce when it is available at supermarkets, greengrocers or markets – they are really doing it tough, so important that we have support from consumers to support local growers, which in turns supports regional and rural communities.”

Broccoli in the firing line

Cabbage is not alone in experiencing price hikes at the moment, with other leafy green vegetables, especially broccoli, also being hit by significant increases.

The cost of broccoli is also going up.

The cost of broccoli is also going up.

… and up.

According to data on movements in selected fruit and vegetable prices at Melbourne Wholesale Markets published by the Australian government’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, the price of broccoli has been sharply rising since May.

The trend is evident at the supermarket chains too, selling for $11.90 per kilo at Coles and $13.10 per kilo at Woolies.

Rising broccoli prices have been blamed on a lack of supply caused by disruptions in Queensland in particular.

Originally published as ‘For the moment’: New fast food fears as cabbage prices spike amid shortages