Wendy’s warns its customers that its burgers or chicken sandwiches will come without lettuce.
Heavy rain on the farms where the fast-food giant grows lettuce has caused shortages at many of the chain’s more than 6,200 restaurants.
All American lettuce is grown in California and Arizona. Both suffered heavy rains and flooding in February, and California was hit again in March and April.
The chain’s app and website warn of shortages, while servers are supposed to do the same when customers place orders at kiosks. It is not affecting all restaurants.
Wendy’s told DailyMail.com this morning that it is working hard to address the shortage, but it is not yet known whether it will be days, weeks or months. A chain that size can’t simply find a new supplier overnight.
But we can reveal that Wendy’s has a plan to prevent bad weather from affecting salad supplies in the coming years: it is growing more and more in greenhouses as part of a project launched in Canada in 2020.
Promotional photo for Wendy’s single Dave’s: showing the lettuce
Wendy’s warns of lettuce shortages when customers open its app. Ordering kiosks in restaurants also carry the warning, and waiters taking orders are also supposed to notify customers.
It is not yet clear whether other restaurants will be affected by the bad weather which will affect the salad offering. A similar lettuce shortage in late 2022 affected Taco Bell, Subway and Chick-Fil-A.
As soon as customers open the Wendy’s app, a message appears to warn them: “Some restaurants are currently experiencing sandwich lettuce shortages due to heavy rain in the growing region.”
“We appreciate your understanding as we aim to provide a new solution for all of our customers.”
Customers ordering from affected restaurants see the same message on the digital ordering kiosk or are warned by servers.
After purchasing a Dave’s burger without lettuce on a recent trip to Wendy’s, David Martin of Los Angeles, California, said: “Come on! You can’t serve a burger without lettuce. It’s a key solution.
Wendy’s told DailyMail.com this morning that it hopes to fix the shortage “very soon.” She also said that her salads and wraps are not affected.
‘W“We are experiencing shortages of sandwich lettuce at certain restaurants due to the adverse weather that has affected the growing region.” a spokesperson said.
‘We have lettuce available for salads and our grilled chicken wrap. We hope this is temporary and that the replenishment will be very soon.”
Too much rain is worse for plants than too little, because farmers can always water dry land.
Heavy rain also damages plants, hitting the falling leaves and then the roots, and also washes away nutrients. It also causes the spread of mold and mildew and makes harvesting difficult.
Wendy’s has taken steps to avoid a lettuce shortage caused by bad weather in the United States. In October, it announced it would move more of its lettuce supply to greenhouses after issues with quality and availability.
“We are seeing more extreme weather events,” said Liliana Esposito, director of corporate affairs and sustainability, in an interview with Bloomberg last year.
“It’s really about ensuring supply, that you can create a more stable and less volatile supply.”
A customer complained this week that, in addition to not receiving lettuce, there was also no tomato on his burger.
Wendy’s grows more lettuce in greenhouses, like this one in Canada, to avoid the effects of bad weather
A Wendy’s customer was missing tomatoes and lettuce on a burger
Posting a photo, wrote in X: ‘I ordered a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger (among other things), and I know there’s a lettuce supply problem, but where’s the tomato slice?’
It is not the first time that fast food fans have been affected by a lack of lettuce. In November 2022, both Taco Bell, Subway and Chick-Fil-A were left without it.
At the time, Taco Bell’s app displayed a warning sign: “National Lettuce Shortage” in bold letters, telling customers that “due to an industry shortage, we may be out of this ingredient in your local restaurant.
Meanwhile, Wendy’s faced backlash on social media in February over its plans to test an Uber-like “price surge.”
DailyMail.com broke the story after discovering documents showing how Wendy’s was looking at dynamic pricing.
Our story was widely reported and Americans reacted with horror at the idea that they could be expected to pay higher prices at the busiest times of the day.
“Wendy’s is barely worth it as it is,” one X user wrote in response to the news. ‘Who’s going to pay the price increase for a mediocre burger?’
Days later, the Dublin, Ohio-based company backed down. While he admitted he would change prices, he said this would be to lower them during the slower hours of the day. He denied he would raise them when restaurants were busier.