McDonald's Removes Tomatoes From Food Items in India Due to Shortage

McDonald's has removed tomatoes from its wraps, burgers, and other food items that usually have them. The burger chain had to take them off its menu in India due to a shortage of love apple fruit.

According to Fox Business, the tomato shortage is mostly affecting McDonald's store outlets in East and North India. As the country is continuously experiencing adverse weather conditions, the prices of tomatoes have been going up since there is a very low harvest.

As a result, McDonald's decided to stop adding tomatoes to its food in India. It was revealed that in some territories in the country, the wholesale prices of the fruit have increased by as much as 288% in a month which means the price per kilo reached 140 rupees. Prices for retail are even higher thus, the citizens are cutting back on tomato consumption.

"Despite our best efforts, we are not able to get adequate quantities of tomatoes which pass our stringent quality checks," signage at McDonald's stores in New Delhi, India, reads. "We are forced to serve you products without tomatoes."

Meanwhile, amid the surge in tomato prices, The Indian Express reported that retailers and business owners have been taking steps to protect their stores. For instance, a Samajwadi Party worker in Varanasi even hired bouncers to safeguard his tomato products.

A man named Ajay Fauji runs a grocery store, and he has recruited two bouncers to prevent buyers from causing a scene when they haggle due to the steep price of the tomatoes. The Indian government blames the higher prices for low harvest as the season of monsoon rains often disrupts the distribution and deliveries of tomatoes.

"I kept hearing about arguments over the tomato price among people. People at my shop too tried to haggle. So to put an end to the constant arguments, I decided to deploy bouncers in uniform at my cart," the store owner explained.

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