Burger King no longer uses tomatoes in India

The tomato crisis in India shows no signs of abating, and even fast-food consumers are feeling the pinch. As tomato prices have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels in the Asian country, more and more companies are opting to temporarily remove tomatoes from their offerings.

As previously reported by BBC, India is grappling with a massive tomato crisis. While food inflation is generally high in the country, unique factors have driven tomato prices particularly high. Consequently, thieves are now stealing tomatoes in 150-kilogram sacks, and fast-food chains are announcing one after another that they will be omitting tomatoes from their menus for a while.

Most recently, on Wednesday, Burger King announced that they would temporarily exclude tomatoes from their dishes. However, they reassured customers that this is a temporary measure and requested their understanding. Burger King cited the “unpredictability of tomato crop quality and supply” as the basis for this decision. Last month, McDonald’s also removed tomatoes from several of their north and east Indian outlets, and Subway made a similar move earlier this week.

Food prices in India have reached unprecedented levels since the beginning of 2020, and due to unfavorable weather conditions, tomato prices reached 250 rupees (approximately 1100 Hungarian forints) per kilogram in July.