A shortage of iceburg lettuce has led the fast-food chain to switch to cabbage. The decision was mocked by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as ‘crazy’, who nicknamed the situation ‘cabbage-gate’
KFC Australia has told its customers to expect some changes in the menu. AFP
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joked that he will have to huddle up with his officials to discuss fast-food restaurant chain KFC’s ‘cabbage-gate’ as it decided to replace lettuce in burgers with cabbage.
“Cabbage isn’t the same as lettuce. That’s just wrong,” Albanese told KIIS FM Radio, as reported by Independent. “This is a crisis,” he added, while laughing.
“My son loves KFC and when he hears about this he is going to be devastated. It’s extreme. I’ll put it on the list for the Cabinet meeting today (Thursday),” he said, while nicknaming the situation as “cabbage-gate”.
Dubbing the fast-food chain’s decision “crazy”, centre-left leader Anthony Albanese quipped the situation had become a national “crisis”.
What is cabbage-gate?
Recently, KFC told its Australian customers to expect some changes in the menu as it would be using a mixture of lettuce and cabbage after floods destroyed lettuce crops.
Lettuce prices have soared by as much as 300 per cent in Australian cities thanks to recent flooding and high global fuel prices.
A single head of iceberg lettuce that once sold for about $2 now goes for close to $8 in Sydney and Melbourne.
As a result, KFC told Australian customers it would reduce the lettuce in its products in favour of a 50-50 lettuce-cabbage mix.
According to The Guardian, the fast-food restaurants are temporarily using a blend of lettuce and cabbage in stores in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, the ACT and Tasmania because of supply issues across the country.
“We’ve hit a bit of an Iceberg and are currently experiencing some lettuce supply chain disruptions due to the impacts of the recent Queensland and NSW floods,” the fast-food chain posted online.
“We’re working with our multiple suppliers to provide them with support, but we do expect disruptions to continue in the coming days. Apologies for any inconvenience caused, we appreciate you all being Little Gems as we work to get things back to normal ASAP.”
What has caused the lettuce shortage?
Weeks of devastating floods on Australia’s east coast earlier this year caused widespread destruction, destroying thousands of houses and killing more than 20 people.
The “once-in-a-century” flood affected New South Wales and Queensland areas the worst that were left inundated for days with torrential rains.
In Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, some lettuce farmers have lost three crops in a row, the ABC reported.
Not the first time?
Earlier this year, KFC Australia had to change its menu due to a lack of ingredients. It was due to a shortage of staff at Australia’s biggest chicken supplier, Ingham, due to COVID-19, that forced the fast-food company to change its menu.
Fast-food chain McDonald’s in the UK faced a shortage of tomatoes in March. The company had earlier faced shortage of potatoes in January and could only offer smaller portions of its popular french fries.
With inputs from agencies
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