KFC switches to cabbage mix in Australia due to lettuce shortage

The fried chicken chain KFC has been forced to make menu changes in its burgers and wraps in Australia as the country faces the consequences of floods that destroyed lettuce crops.

“Due to the recent floods in NSW [New South Wales] and QLD [Queensland] we’re currently experiencing a lettuce shortage. So, we’re using a lettuce and cabbage blend on all products containing lettuce until further notice,” the company told customers in a statement, according to  AFP news agency.

The local price of the verdant leaf has also soared by as much as 300 percent in recent months. A single head of iceberg lettuce in Sydney or Melbourne that once sold for about $2 now goes for close to $8.

Supply chain expert Flavio Macau of Edith Cowan University told AFP that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was also a factor, pushing up diesel and fertiliser prices.

The company told customers: “If that’s not your bag, simply click ‘customise’ on your chosen product and remove lettuce from the recipe :)”.

The change was certainly not the “bag” of some social media users.

“The fact that you are replacing lettuce with cabbage makes me rethink my whole meal at KFC. There’s 4 or 5 other things I would eat before cabbage Its such a weird choice,” wrote one disgruntled Twitter user.

“Feels like a sign of the apocalypse,” said another.

This is not the first time that restaurant chains have faced challenges amid supply chain issues.

Last August McDonald’s said it had taken milkshakes and bottled drinks off the menu at all of its British restaurants as it battled the supply chain issues that hit businesses across the retail and hospitality sector.

Nando’s, the popular grilled chicken restaurant chain, was forced to temporarily close more than 40 outlets in the UK, about 10 percent of its restaurants, after staff shortages hit its chicken supply chain last August.

Last December, McDonald’s announced a chip shortage that hit its supply chain, forcing the company to ration French fries in Japan.