KFC changes menu after lettuce crisis causes national shortage, exorbitant prices

Australia’s lettuce crisis has taken a worrying turn as skyrocketing costs for the popular salad item forces KFC to change its menu. 

The fast food chain posted a notice to its website that warned customers a cabbage ‘blend’ would be used in any items that contained lettuce. 

‘Due to the recent floods in NSW and Queensland we’re currently experiencing a lettuce shortage,’ the notice said. 

‘So, we’re using a lettuce and cabbage blend on all products containing lettuce until further notice.’ 

Australia’s lettuce crisis has hit fast food giant KFC as skyrocketing costs for the popular salad item forced the restaurant to change its menu (pictured, a KFC restaurant in Fairfield, NSW)

The fast food chain posted a notice to its website that warned customers a cabbage 'blend' would be used in any items that contained lettuce

The fast food chain posted a notice to its website that warned customers a cabbage ‘blend’ would be used in any items that contained lettuce

The restaurant urged customers who didn’t want the cabbage in their food to remove lettuce completely from their order.

A few weeks ago, a head of lettuce was costing shoppers just $2.80, however due to an ongoing supply crisis the price has skyrocketed to as much as $12.

A supermarket in suburban Brisbane was pictured selling a single head of iceberg lettuce for as much as $12.99 last month.

The price increase follows a wet start to the year with unprecedented rain and flooding spoiling crops in NSW and Queensland. 

Some lettuce farmers in Queensland have lost their third crop in a row and risk the collapse of their businesses following the unseasonable rain. 

The peak horticulture group warned growers in the state’s southeast will need millions to recover from the string of natural disasters. 

A supermarket in suburban Brisbane was pictured selling a single head of iceberg lettuce for as much as $12.99 (pictured)

A supermarket in suburban Brisbane was pictured selling a single head of iceberg lettuce for as much as $12.99 (pictured)

The restaurant urged customers who didn't want the cabbage in their food to remove lettuce completely from their order (stock image of a KFC meal)

The restaurant urged customers who didn’t want the cabbage in their food to remove lettuce completely from their order (stock image of a KFC meal)

Growcom acting chief executive Richard Shannon called on the state and federal governments to provide such a lifeline for struggling farmers. 

‘[Lettuce growers] haven’t been able to get in to harvest and, where they have, they’ve only found a small portion of the crop being market-ready, not affected by diseases,’ Mr Shannon told ABC Radio Brisbane. 

‘It’s been a devastating time out in the Lockyer Valley for lettuce growers and other growers around the state [and] northern NSW.’

The chief executive said the size of the relief package would need to be on par with the one extended to beef producers in Queensland’s northwest back in 2019. 

Those floods racked up a $2billion damage bill and wiped out thousands of cows. 

His warning came after a TikTok video of two women appearing to fill their trolley with ‘free’ lettuce leaves caused outrage on social media. 

While one woman pulled the outside leaves off the heads of iceberg lettuce and put them in the trolley, the other then put the leaves into plastic bags (pictured)

TikTok user James Longstaff posted the video, captioning the now-viral footage ‘literally pulling off the green pieces of every iceberg lettuce…’

The video showed the women at a lettuce stand in what appeared to be a Coles branch in Western Australia.

While one woman pulled the outside leaves off the heads of iceberg lettuce and put them in the trolley, the other then put the leaves into plastic bags.

She was then seen pulling another bag off to use while a passerby stared at her, wondering what was going on.

The price increase follows a wet start to the year with unprecedented rain and flooding spoiling crops in NSW and Queensland (pictured, a shopper in Coles)

The price increase follows a wet start to the year with unprecedented rain and flooding spoiling crops in NSW and Queensland (pictured, a shopper in Coles)

The exorbitant price of lettuce lately struck a chord with some commenters, who blasted the women for having ‘no regard for anyone’.

A second pointed out that it’s not the shop that’s losing out, but everyone who wanted an iceberg lettuce.

‘Lettuce is sold by “each” not weight, so they’re actually stealing from everyone who buys a lettuce after them.’

But some commenters jumped to their defence, saying the outer, often wilted leaves on lettuce are free to take.

People that own rabbit and guinea pigs often take the outside leaves to feed their animals, with grocery stores allowing shoppers to take the unusable pieces for free.

The National Farmers Federation said the price of lettuce was an outlier but there were wider pressures forcing up the cost of produce (pictured, a Woolworths in Newcastle)

The National Farmers Federation said the price of lettuce was an outlier but there were wider pressures forcing up the cost of produce (pictured, a Woolworths in Newcastle)

The National Farmers Federation said the price of lettuce was an outlier but there were wider pressures forcing up the cost of produce.

‘We need to remember the price of one single item is not indicative of a general trend,’ NFF CEO Tony Mahar told Daily Mail Australia.

‘While an iceberg lettuce might be $12 at a particular store, I can buy a kilo of avocados for $6 from Coles.

‘In April CPI data showed vegetable prices went up 6.6 per cent and fruit 4.9 per cent with further increases expected, and we are seeing this with some items.

‘Farmers too are facing huge increases in input costs like fuel and fertiliser but the farmgate price is only a small percentage of the final price people pay at checkout.’

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