Australia’s Lettuce Shortage Prompts KFC to Put Cabbage on Sandwiches

People walk by a KFC restaurant in Bristol, England, on Feb. 20, 2018. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A shortage of lettuce across Australia has prompted fast food restaurant KFC to switch up its menu and put cabbage in its chicken sandwiches and wraps.

KFC Australia said the move was due to a shortage of lettuce following recent floods in New South Wales and Queensland and noted that it would continue to use a mixture of cabbage and lettuce in its products until further notice.

Customers who don’t like cabbage can customize their sandwiches to remove the cabbage and lettuce blend, the company said.

Intense flooding hit New South Wales and Queensland in recent months, prompting the evacuation of residents and wiping out much of the lettuce crop. Minor flood warnings are still in place across multiple parts of both states.

In May, Professor Ashish Sharma from the University of New South Wales said that Australia needs to invest more in flood infrastructure and warning systems, arguing that the country’s current flood systems haven’t caught up with “significant changes” in the climate yet.

However, consumers in Australia were already facing skyrocketing prices for groceries, including iceberg lettuce, which is currently on supermarket shelves for about A$12 (about $8.60), according to local reports.

Previously, a single head of iceberg lettuce in Sydney or Melbourne sold for about A$2 (about $1.40).

The price increases are being driven by fertilizer shortages due to supply chain issues in China, labor shortages, and the floods across Australia’s east coast. Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven up the global supply of oil and wheat.

According to the Australian Consumer Price Index, the cost of food and nonalcoholic beverages alone have increased by 4.3 percent between the 2021 to 2022 March quarter.

On June 7, Australia’s central bank increased its main interest rate by half a percentage point to 0.85 percent, in what Treasurer Jim Chalmers called “very difficult news for all of those Australians who are already facing skyrocketing costs of living in this country.”

This isn’t the first time that KFC Australia has been forced to cut items from its menu amid food shortages.

In January 2022, the company had to modify its menu due to a lack of chicken.

“Like many businesses across Australia, our supply chain & workforce has been impacted by COVID-19,” KFC said in a media release on Jan. 12. “Rest assured we’re doing all we can to get back to fryin’ everyone’s faves as soon as possible.”

“This isn’t the way we wanted to start the year, please be kind to each other and our staff as they do their best to provide the chicken we all love,” KFC said.

Nandos restaurants issued a similar statement regarding the lack of chicken supply, while some McDonald’s stores were forced to cut down on trading hours due to employees contracting COVID-19 and undergoing mandatory isolation.

Subway’s spokesman Rhys Reynolds confirmed to The Sydney Morning Herald on June 6 that it, too, is experiencing a fresh lettuce shortage, noting in a statement: “We expect this to be a short-term inconvenience for our guests.”