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 National 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.
- Montreal-area home sales fall 10% in July amid ‘adjustment phase’: real estate board
- Consumers using savings to pay for essentials and piling up debt: Equifax
- Edmonton Corn Maze opens as 2026 design celebrates AMA’s 100th anniversary
- Calgary’s iconic Stephen Avenue transformed in effort to attract more visitors
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.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.