Why is there a lettuce shortage among major food chains? Details explored as Subway, Taco Bell forced to display warning messages to customers

Customers are beginning to feel the effects of fast-food companies' rising prices and lettuce shortages. There is a shortfall of lettuce in many eateries, which has resulted in astonishingly high salad prices that are now being passed on to customers.

Three cartons of romaine lettuce are now selling for up to twice as much at the retail level as they did a year ago when they cost $5. Prices have increased tremendously at the wholesale level in recent months.

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Subway, Taco Bell, and more face lettuce shortage due to recent virus released during the COVID pandemic

According to Business Insider, chains including Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, and Panera have all been compelled to post warnings regarding the lettuce shortage, informing consumers that they might be out of the ingredient at some locations owing to the industry shortage.

The "National Lettuce Scarcity" sign on Taco Bell's mobile app informs users, "Due to an industry shortage, we may be out of this item in your local location."

According to a Taco Bell spokeswoman who had a conversation with Insider, the notice was displayed out of "an abundance of caution." According to the business, scheduled lettuce shipments started arriving at eateries on November 10.

The Chick-fil-A app, however, warned that "some menu items" might be "prepared differently." While some eateries are apparently just changing their menus to include wedge salads, others are reportedly charging an extra fee for leafy greens.

Speaking on behalf of Panera, Subway, and Chipotle, spokespeople admitted that lettuce may be "temporarily unavailable" at some of their locations.

The cause, according to experts, is a California growing season that is hotter than usual, which decreases crop yields and makes it more difficult for lettuce to fend off viruses and pests. Moreover, given the effects of climate change, it might occur again. However, the lettuce shortage has occurred due to the newly released virus INSV during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Christopher Valadez, president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, revealed:

“The heat just stresses the lettuce to the point where it’s weakened and can’t fight infection. You start seeing brown and yellow spots. Some of them, the plant just doesn’t grow the way it normally would."

The good news about the lettuce shortage is that the situation appears to be improving, and by January at the latest, the severity of the shortage should lessen when batches of lettuce from southern California and Arizona start to become accessible.

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The seasonal food items with the largest price increases are butter and margarine (32.2%), flour and prepared flour mixes (24.2%), frozen/refrigerated bread products (20%), canned fruits (18.6%), raw chicken, including turkey (17%), and frozen vegetables (16.6%).