'I almost dropped my jaw on the floor': Cost of lettuce putting some Saskatoon restaurants in a crunch

A lack of imports of romaine and iceberg lettuce from California is causing some businesses in Canada, including Saskatoon, to make tough decisions

Jonathan Schryer is the owner and operator behind Schyer’s Smoked BBQ and says upon seeing the price of lettuce at Wholesale Club, has decided to temporarily remove caesar salads from his menu.

“Something like this generally happens around this time of year when they’re changing growing seasons because in Saskatchewan, romaine isn’t exactly being grown anywhere right now,” Schryer told CTV News.

On Tuesday the business posted a photo on social media for the price of a box of lettuce at Wholesale Club Supermarket listed at $137.99. The post has been shared more than 800 times and received more than 1,000 likes.

“When I saw the price tag on top of the case I almost dropped my jaw on the floor, I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Schryer said.

He says the price was daunting and that he’s never seen it that high before, the most expensive being around $60 to $70 a box.

Schryer says their caesar salad makes up around 20 to 25 per cent of their salads, which is also used as a base for their meat.

“Some people are pretty regular with that caesar salad and they’re relatively disappointed so they gotta I guess just wait until things get better,” Schryer.

Instead of waiting for prices to go down, the owner’s behind Fong’s Kitchen and Summer Roll say they’ve decided to eat up the cost and are paying triple the amount they’re used to for lettuce at Wholesale Club Supermarket.

“Maybe we lose the money for the time being, but we hope for the best,” says Tom Fong.

Fong says they spent upwards of $400 just for lettuce and say they’ve been left with “no choice.” They also say the quality of the lettuce has also gone down.

BEHIND THE HIGH PRICES

Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab, says imports of romaine and iceberg lettuce from California haven't been possible due to drought and dry weather, making plants weaker.

“A virus actually destroyed many crops there. Some farmers actually just didn’t have anything to sell, which has impacted the state of lettuce to be able to export more lettuce, leafy greens in many parts of the world, including Canada,” Charlebois told CTV News.

As a result, grocers are either not carrying the product because it’s too expensive or they’re increasing prices to cope.

He says the impact is country-wide but temporary as lettuce stock is expected to return to normal in December.