Why McDonald's Has Dropped Tomatoes From Its Menu Items?

McDonald’s India – North and East branches have temporarily dropped tomatoes from their menu. The fast food chain’s decision comes amid skyrocketing tomato prices in several parts of the country. With tomato prices ranging from Rs 80 to Rs 100 per kilogram, McDonald’s has informed customers that it is facing a temporary unavailability of the essential item.

In a statement released on Friday, the representative of the fast-food chain said tomatoes will be lacking in the menu items, due to seasonal issues.

"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," the statement read.

"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 tomato in our menu very soon," the company added.

The West and South franchises of McDonald's India have stopped serving tomatoes at 10–15 per cent of their restaurants, but the company is not facing any serious tomato-related issues at present. However, it highlighted that fruit flies are a "common annoyance" during the monsoon season and flawed batches of tomatoes are rejected, if found, according to a CNBC report.

However, McDonald’s India has not attributed the lack of tomatoes on its menu to rising prices. The cost of tomatoes in India has soared due to heavy rainfall. Seasonal issues have impacted crop quality, supply chains, and transportation. Tomato prices in places like Delhi, Kolkata, and Uttar Pradesh are teetering in the range of Rs 130–155 per kg.

MMG Group is McDonald’s partner for North and East India. The Westlife Foodworld is the food chain’s partner for South and West India.

According to local vegetable sellers, the sudden increase in tomato prices has led to a sharp fall in consumer demand.

Several state governments are making efforts to curb the rising cost of tomatoes. In Chennai, the fruit-cum-vegetable is currently priced at Rs 100-130 per kilogram. To reduce the burden on the public, the Tamil Nadu government has started selling tomatoes at a subsidised rate of Rs 60 per kg through fair-price shops in the state capital.

The West Bengal government has directed its own retailing network, Sufal Bangala, to deliver fair prices at Rs 115 per kg.