The tomato price hike crisis in India is not only impacting the common man but also the overall food industry, including the menus created by professional chefs, restaurants and even multinational fast food chains. Earlier, McDonald’s and Subway’s India chains had released notices saying tomatoes are being dropped from their burgers, sandwiches and other dishes until the tomato inflation is resolved. Now, Burger King India has also joined these ranks.
In recent notices affixed to two Burger King India outlets, the multinational burger chain announced that it was temporarily dropping tomatoes from its signature burgers and more because of the current tomato price hike crisis. “Even tomatoes deserve a break...regrettably, we are currently unable to include tomatoes in our dishes,” the chain explained in the notices.
Video Credit: YouTube/Chef Ranveer Brar
A report by Reuters further explains that the decision by Burger King India was taken citing quality issues due to the “unpredictable conditions on the quality and supply of tomato crops” across the nation. With almost 400 outlets across India, Burger King’s decision to drop tomatoes from its menu until the price hike crisis resolves itself was in tandem with that taken by McDonald’s and Subway in July 2023.
The matter was brought to notice when someone posted a question on Burger King India’s Support section: “Why are there no tomatoes in my burger?”. Responding to this query, the burger chain said that since it did not want to compromise on the quality of burgers, they had decided to drop tomatoes from the menu for the time being. The comment also asked customers to be patient until the crisis is resolved, and promised to bring tomatoes back when that does happen.
The tomato price hike crisis in India started in June 2023 due to excessive rainfall, damaged crops and supply issues. Since then, the prices of tomatoes across the country have seen a 450% rise. The prices of tomatoes peaked in July, with rates going up to Rs 250 per kilo in many parts of the country. With recent imports from Nepal and government initiatives through cooperatives, tomato prices in the country have somewhat stabilised—with tomatoes being available even at Rs 50 per kilo in Delhi NCR.