But when Ghorayeb saw the recent skyrocketing prices for lettuce, he said he was forced to a third option: take it off the menu altogether. “It’s a pretty big price change,” said the owner of Châteauguay’s BLVD Bar & Grill on Montreal’s South Shore. Lettuce is in short supply in many parts of Canada – and costs much more than usual – after drought conditions and crop diseases affected supplies from California. Ghorayeb says he used to buy 24 heads of lettuce for about $50. Now, the same order from his supplier costs more than four times as much, at $220. “I mean, that kind of price increase, if you shave some iceberg lettuce and put it on a burger, you’re looking at almost a dollar per serving in cost. It’s completely out of control,” he said. .
The tip of the iceberg
Ghorayeb is far from the only victim of plant scarcity. Whether you’re in the market for a head of lettuce, a bag of romaine hearts, or a salad kit, lettuce shortage warnings are popping up in stores across the country, and that’s driving up prices. Munther Zeid, owner of the Foodfare grocery chain in Winnipeg, is asking customers to be patient as he doesn’t know when the product will be back on the shelves. “You order a case or two, you won’t get any. You order five, you might get one,” he said. A number of restaurant chains in Canada, including Subway, Harvey’s and Wendy’s, have also been affected by the shortage and are warning customers on their websites of possible impacts at some locations. WATCHES | Reports of lettuce prices rising due to supply issues:
Lettuce prices skyrocket due to crop diseases, supply chain issues
In parts of Canada, lettuce is in short supply – and costing much more than usual – after drought conditions and disease brought supplies from California.
Sylvain Charlebois, director of the agri-food analysis lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax, says the problems we’re seeing in Canada — one of the world’s biggest importers of lettuce — start with problems with our biggest supplier: California.
Charlebois says California’s crops were hit early by drought in September and October — the same weather that caused sales of Sriracha hot sauce to stall this summer.
This fall, however, lettuce crops were also hit by disease, which left them wilting in the fields.
“So there’s less production and less sales around the world, including exports to Canada, and that’s the main issue right now,” Charlesbois said.
“So at retail, we either see higher prices or no lettuce at all.”
Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, expects prices to return closer to normal as early as December, when the new crop should arrive from Arizona. (Submitted by Sylvain Charlebois)
These reasons make some people think twice about going to the grocery store.
“Everything is so expensive, and to go pay $8 or something, $8.99, for an iceberg? It used to be $2.99 before. It’s crazy,” said Montreal shopper George Sousa.
He says it led him to change his cooking habits.
The same can be said for Joan Legair, another Montrealer who is opting for other leafy greens in the meantime.
“When it gets to that price, I don’t buy lettuce. But I might use spinach instead,” he said. “I can be very innovative with my greens, so I use other greens that are more affordable.”
Salad days will be back
Charlebois says the lettuce shortage is “certainly a good case study” of the effects of climate change on the food we eat. “The virus or viruses that have affected crops would not normally exist without climate change,” he said. However, he says, there is light at the end of the tunnel this year. Charlebois says he expects prices to return closer to normal as early as December, when Arizona is expected to take over and begin exporting the last crop to Canada. “We should be fine for the holidays as long as there are no recalls,” he said. For now, restaurateurs like Ghorayeb say he will make his salads using other greens, such as mixed salad or kale, while burgers or any dish usually served with lettuce as a garnish will have to do without.
