Subway India becomes latest victim of tomatoes crunch
Business
Some outlets replicates McDonald’s by dropping it from menu due to quality issues amid price surge
NEW DELHI (Web Desk) – Tomatoes have become a serious issue for multinational food chains in India as some Subway outlets in the country have removed the world’s most wanted fruit – sorry vegetable –from their menu, joining McDonald’s who did the same earlier this month.
In a latest report, Reuters says these Subway outlets stopped serving tomatoes in their salads and sandwiches due to quality problems, as prices of the staple have soared nearly 400 per cent to record highs in the country.
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A Subway outlet at a Delhi airport terminal announced the "Temporary Unavailability of TOMATOES" in a sign saying the restaurant could not get enough supply that passed its quality checks.
"Hence for the time being we are forced to serve you products without tomatoes," it said. "We are working to get the tomatoes supplies back."
Everstone Group's Culinary Brands, which has the master franchisee for some 200 of India's 800 Subway and manages the supply chain for all of them, did not respond to a request for comment.
It was not clear how many outlets were affected, Reuters said.
Many Indian outlets were still offering tomatoes, according to checks of food ordering apps and calls to stores, but at least two in New Delhi, one in Uttar Pradesh and one in Chennai in the south had stopped.
"It's very expensive," said one Subway store employee.
Two weeks ago McDonald's restaurants in India dropped tomatoes from their burgers and wraps in many parts of India due to quality issues.
In the capital New Delhi, tomatoes were retailing for about 168 rupees ($2.05) a kg on Saturday, after touching around 240 rupees.
The government blames the higher prices of tomatoes on a lean production season as monsoon rains disrupt transport and distribution. It follows months of higher prices for items ranging from milk to spices.
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The government in recent weeks has organised mobile vans to supply tomatoes at cheaper rates, with hundreds queuing each day.
Global restaurant chains like Domino's and KFC are also launching lower-priced products in India, where consumers have cut spending due to high inflation. Domino's is aggressively promoting a 60-cent seven-inch pizza, the brand's cheapest worldwide, in the country.
