McDonald’s stops using tomatoes as crisis hits

The company claims surging prices of tomatoes - a staple of the fast food giant’s burgers - has led to “quality and supply issues” in some global outlets.

McDonald’s restaurants in north and east India have stopped serving tomatoes in its burgers and wraps as surging prices of the vegetable have led to what the company claims are “quality and supply issues”.

The price of tomatoes is seen by voters in the populous country as an inflation marker.

In some parts of India the vegetable now cost $2.99 (Rs 165) per kilogram, five times higher than at the start of the year.

A Twitter user shows what a burger in an Indian McDonald’s now involves. Picture: Ambarish Pandey / Twitter

The elimination of tomatoes from burgers is because of ‘supply’ issues, the company says. Picture: Ambarish Pandey / Twitter

The American fast-food giant’s Indian franchisee, Connaught Plaza Restaurants Ltd, put up notices across its stores on Friday saying it has not been able to get “adequate quantities of tomatoes which pass our stringent quality checks,” despite its “best efforts”, Forbes reports.

The company added that “for the time being” it is being “forced” to serve products without tomatoes, without mentioning how long this issue will persist.

Several items on McDonald’s Indian menu — including its signature Maharajah Mac Chicken burger — include sliced tomatoes as an ingredient.

- पहाड़ों में बरसात क्या हुई मैदानी इलाकों में #Tomatoes के दाम बढ़ने लगे
- पहले टमाटर हमारे किचन से कम हुआ
- अब तो #Burger से भी ग़ायब हो गया है...#BurgerKing#McDonaldshttps://t.co/HwpMah0JOKpic.twitter.com/d0E0a77hQS

— Ambarish Pandey (@pandeyambarish) July 7, 2023

The issue only appears to be limited to McDonald’s restaurants in north and east India as the McDonald’s franchisee for the western and southern regions of the country remain unaffected by the shortage, Reuters reported.

The most recent price rise has prompted jokes about tomatoes costing more than petrol along with memes and music videos on social media.

The opposition Congress party has blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government’s “flawed” economic policies for the price rise while its members have organised street protests by wearing necklaces made of tomatoes, comparing them to jewellery.

The government, however, has insisted that the price rise is simply a seasonal production issue and it expect tomato prices to normalise soon.