McDonald's drops tomatoes from India offerings, citing quality concerns as prices surge

Westlife Foodworld

07/07/2023 10:24

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      Tomato prices in India surge, hit record
    

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      McDonald's takes tomatoes off menu items, blames quality
    

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      Price rise comes when inflation was hurting consumers
    

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      Indians cutting back on tomato consumption
    

  
    By Riddhima Talwani and Rajendra Jadhav
       NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, July 7 (Reuters) - Restaurants of fast
food chain McDonald's have dropped tomatoes from their burgers
and wraps in many parts of India, hit by supply shortages and
quality concerns after prices of the vegetable soared to
records.
    In some regions, wholesale prices of the staple of
traditional Indian cuisine have surged 288% in a month to a high
of 140 rupees ($1.7) a kg on Friday, with retail prices still
higher, spurring many people to cut back on consumption.
    The government blames the higher prices of tomatoes on a
lean production season when monsoon rains disrupt transport and
distribution, but it comes after consumers have battled higher
prices of items ranging from milk to spices in recent months.
    "Despite our best efforts, we are not able to get adequate
quantities of tomatoes which pass our stringent quality checks,"
read notices posted in two McDonald's stores in New Delhi, the 
capital.
    "We are forced to serve you products without tomatoes."
    Store managers said the problem was due to quality issues in
the supply chain, rather than pricing.
    In a statement to media, Connaught Plaza Restaurants, which
runs about 150 outlets as McDonald's  MCD.N  franchisee in
India's north and east, attributed the decision to "temporary"
seasonal issues.
    However, Westlife Foodworld  WEST.NS , the McDonald's
franchisee for India's western and southern regions, with 357
restaurants, said there were "no serious tomato-related issues".
    The problem was seasonal and forced 10% to 15% of its stores
to stop serving tomatoes temporarily, it said.    
    McDonald's Delhi stores still offer sachets of tomato
ketchup, however, and a nearby Subway restaurant said there were
no issues serving tomatoes.
    In the financial capital of Mumbai, vegetable vendor Vijay
Sharma said sales had fallen off from the 40 kg (88 lb) he used
to peddle each day.
    "Most of my customers have stopped buying tomatoes," he
said. "Now, I only bring five kilos." 
    As Indians cut back on tomatoes, some businesses suggest
alternatives.
    "Tomato prices running high? Cook with tomato puree
instead!" exhorts an advertisement among the results thrown up
by a search for tomatoes on the BigBasket shopping app of the
Tata conglomerate.

 (Reporting by Riddhima Talwani, Rajendra Jadhav, Praveen
Paramasivam; Writing by Aditya Kalra)
 ((aditya.kalra@thomsonreuters.com;))