Traditional Australian pub dinners are experiencing a major transformation at the moment, as restaurateurs grapple with growing food costs explore making side salads optional to fight the rising cost of lettuce.
Fresh vegetable prices have soared in recent months as demand outstrips supply following crop damage caused by floods in Queensland and northern NSW.
A head of lettuce, which normally costs around $2, can now cost up to $12, forcing restaurants to make menu compromises.
Most fast food businesses have lately had to replace their lettuce, with KFC, Subway, and Oporto all utilizing a low-cost cabbage blend on their sandwiches and burgers.
Before bringing out their plate, several bars have started asking customers if they want the automated addition, which normally comes with chicken schnitzels and steaks with a side of fries.
Chelsea Harris, chef at Wheatsheaf Pub in Allendale North, 90 kilometers north of Adelaide, said the practice was implemented when it was discovered that many customers simply ate the schnitzel and chips.
‘It’s not something we usually do, but a lot of people return back plates with salads that haven’t been eaten, and it’s such a waste,’ she told The Advertiser.
‘We are finding it quite difficult to keep up with the rising prices of all food in my area alone.’
Ms Harris, who paid $35 for a 1.5kg package of lettuce, claimed the company was prepared to compensate her with extra chips in exchange for the missing trimmings.
During this era of fresh vegetable shortages, Lucy Kolizos, manager of The Lion Hotel in North Adelaide, said asking diners if they would prefer to forego their salad’made sense.’
Customers have been ‘very understanding,’ she added, as the restaurant tries to limit food waste.
The number of abandoned side salads being sent back into her venue’s kitchen, according to Simone Douglas, publican of The Duke of Brunswick in Adelaide’s CBD, fills an entire rubbish bin.
‘The advice that’s going around on social media at the moment is if you don’t really like it, ask not to have it,’ Ms Douglas told ABC News.
‘It actually saves the venue some money but it also saves them throwing out a lot of material and waste.
‘If you’re a venue that is trying to reduce your footprint, and your waste as a whole, and being environmentally sustainable … then that’s something you need to look at.’
The green leafy staple is not the only vegetable which has been subjected to a price hike, with onions, fresh herbs, tomatoes, zucchini and cucumber also in short supply
The rising cost of basic goods, which includes meat and fish, is pushing companies to adjust, according to Adelaide restaurateur Frank Hannon-Tan, who says his restaurants are opting for cheaper, seasonal products instead.
He hasn’t yet eliminated side salads from his menus, calling it a “divisive topic” that necessitated businesses treading carefully.
Karen Murphy, a dietician at the University of South Australia, warned that eliminating the salad will diminish the population’s fruit and vegetable intake, which is already low, with fewer than 10% of Australians achieving recommended consumption levels.
She said that pubs may strike a balance between nutritional demands and economics by replacing pricey veggies with less expensive options.
Before the Covid epidemic, Ms Douglas claimed her company had stopped serving the side salad with the typical chicken schnitzel.
The restaurant removed the accompaniment from the meal’s inclusion and reduced the price, with those who wanted to add it as an extra for the same amount as the dish was before.
The revisions come as the lettuce crisis continues to wreak havoc across the country, with businesses pivoting to cope to the soaring cost of common commodities and Australians flocking to social media to express their opinions on the problem.
A snapshot circulating online last month showed a suburban Brisbane supermarket selling a single head of lettuce for $11.99, causing social media users to be shocked.
Another post provoked uproar after a popular TikTok video showed two ladies pretending to fill their carts with ‘free’ lettuce by plucking the leaves in order to avoid the weighted pay-scale calculation.
Meanwhile, KFC posted a notice on its website last week informing customers that a cabbage ‘mix’ will be substituted for lettuce-containing dishes ‘until further notice.’
Customers who don’t want cabbage should ask for their lettuce to be removed entirely from their order.