Seasonal woes. Tomato trouble: Big Mac slices off the pricey vegetable from its burgers

As tomato prices continued to soar, social media sizzled with meme fests and celebrity chefs like Saransh Goila and Kunal Kapur put out reels highlighting the pain of kitchens across India. From doing without tomatoes to substituting with tomato puree, Indians have been vocally highlighting on Twitter and Facebook how they are coping.  

But the topping on the tomato issue came on Friday, when McDonald’s North and East (Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd) said it was unable to serve its burgers and wraps with tomatoes. “Due to seasonal crop issues arising out of farm fields in a few regions, there are not enough quantities meeting our quality specifications available. To ensure our customers get the best quality we are known to serve, we are constrained to hold tomatoes for the time being,” a spokesperson for McDonald’s India-North and East said in a statement. 

• Read: High tomato, pulses prices raise average cost of Indian thali in June: report

A taste of scarcity

“We reiterate that it is not due to the surge in the prices. It is only due to non-availability of tomatoes meeting our quality specifications,” it emphasised. The company said it was able to source adequate qualities in the Punjab-Chandigarh area, where it continues to serve tomatoes in its menu.

“We are working towards resolving this issue by employing sustainable agriculture practices including hydroponically-grown tomatoes in completely controlled environment to de-risk our requirements from vagaries of season. We should be able to bring back tomatoes to menu soon,” the company added.

• Read: No respite, retail tomato price further shoots up to ₹162/kg

Westlife Foodworld, which operates McDonald’s restaurants in South and West, said only 10-15 per cent of its stores had to stop serving tomatoes temporarily. “But they still make use of any good supply they receive. This is a seasonal problem that the restaurant and food industry has to face every monsoon,” it added.

A senior executive of another fast-food chain said that while its menu remains unaltered, there were monsoon-related challenges in procurement of tomatoes.

In the meantime, tomato puree is selling like hot potatoes. A senior executive with a packaged food company said that the size of the company’s tomato puree business has almost doubled compared to the same period last year. “In the first six days of July, we have already surpassed the monthly sales volume,” said a spokesperson for Mother Dairy. Safal Tomato Puree is available in a 200 gm pack, priced at ₹25. Given that tomatoes are retailing at ₹140 a kg, customers see value in the puree.