Joe Quattrocchi, the owner of Quattrocchi’s: a specialty foods and grocery store, says the crunch on lettuce is unprecedented.
“I have never seen lettuce brought from Spain,” said Quattrocchi.
Quattrocchi says the culprit causing the lettuce shortage is the inpatiens virus.
“It’s wiped out over a third of the crop from California,” Quattrocchi told Global Kingston.
The virus, combined with drought, has led to dramatic price increases for the leafy vegetable.
Get daily news
“Yesterday on the Toronto, Ontario, food terminal, a case of lettuce with 24 heads in it went for $150,” said Quattrocchi.
Restaurants like the Irish pub Tir Nan Og in downtown Kingston have changed the mix of their salads to deal with the shortage.
“In some cases, we’re having to mix in other lettuces, so we’re using spring mix, we’re also using spinach, baby kale sometimes, those things can mix into the leafiness and still be able to give our guests their salads,” said Gary Cork, the Tir Nan Og General Manager.
Cork says despite the rising food cost, the pub isn’t passing it on to customers.
“We’re going to continue to stay the course until we get to the other side of it because it’s going to be the right thing to do for the long run,” said Cork.