McDonald’s India Slices Tomatoes From Menu Citing Reasons Other Than Price Rise

OB Bureau

July 7, 2023 2:13 pm

New Delhi: McDonald’s India has dropped tomatoes from its menu. In an official statement on Friday, it said that it is dropping tomatoes from its menu due to a “temporary” issue. The spokesperson of McDonald’s India- North and East said that the fast food chain is “constrained to serve tomatoes” in its menu items due to “seasonal issues” in procurement.

SEBI Registered Investment Adviser, Aditya Saha also tweeted that McDonald’s in Delhi had put up a notice stating that even McDonald’s cannot afford tomatoes now, Wion reported.

The official statement by McDonald’s India – North and East read, “As a brand committed to the highest standards of food quality and safety, we use ingredients only after rigorous food quality and safety checks. However, due to seasonal issues and despite our best efforts, we are not able to procure tomatoes that pass our world-class, stringent quality checks. Hence, we are constrained to serve tomatoes in our menu items at some of our restaurants. This is a temporary issue and we would like to reassure our customers that we are looking at all possible ways to bring back tomatoes to our menu very soon.”

While the company has not cited the lack of tomatoes in its menu to the rising prices of tomatoes in the country. This seasonal issue has affected supply chains, transportation and crop quality.

This is not the first time that the US-based burger chain has sliced tomatoes out of their menu. In 2016, McDonald’s in North and East India stopped using tomatoes in its burgers over the poor quality of the crop. A notice was displayed in Delhi’s Connaught Plaza restaurants, explaining that the company was unable to add tomatoes to various products due to temporary unavailability. Unpredictable conditions have impacted the tomato crop, its quality and supply, the notice said, according to the report.