KFC Australia puts cabbage in burgers as lettuce shortage bites

KFC branches down under are experiencing a lettuce shortage, forcing the Colonel's chain to add cabbage to its burgers instead.

Recent floods around New South Wales and Queensland are to blame, KFC says, with lettuce crops in the country destroyed.

On its website, the store said: “Due to the recent floods in NSW [New South Wales] and QLD [Queensland] we're currently experiencing a lettuce shortage.

“So, we're using a lettuce and cabbage blend on all products containing lettuce until further notice.”

Customers can still opt out of including any greens at all in their meals.

It comes as reports suggest the price of lettuce has soared in Australia as countries around the world struggle with various food shortages.

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a major factor behind global supply chain issues, as has the Covid pandemic.

Meanwhile, a cost-of-living crisis is hitting both suppliers and consumers hard.

In the UK, farmers warned just last month that the price of food in supermarkets must go up or they risk going out of business.

Alastair Butler, a second-generation pig farmer from Suffolk, said: “It's well reported that pig farmers are losing up to £60 on every pig they produce.

“We produce 20,000 pigs a year so the maths on that is extraordinary, it means we're losing over a million pounds in a year.

“We can't stick those sorts of losses. We need at this stage our supermarkets to wake up and stop talking about who can sell the cheapest product and start talking to the general public about the realities that food will cost more.”

The price of wheat is rising everywhere, after India decided to ban exports to protect its own food supply.

Prices have been driven up by 60% so far this year.