Condiment crisis: Quebec food industry copes with mustard shortage
COVID-19 pandemic shortages and extreme weather have put one of the most popular condiments in jeopardy -- mustard.
At the Lasalle Drive-In restaurant, customers may soon be required to enjoy their burgers without the yellow stuff, as a shortage of mustard seeds is causing supplies to go down and prices to shoot up.
"For now, we're good for one month at least," said Drive-In co-owner George Tsimiklis. "Every day, we hear something new about the shortage."
According to food industry analyst Sylvain Charlebois, the shortage -- caused by a drought in western Canada and flooding in Western Europe -- could have different effects on different brands.
"My guess is that you may actually see stocks be impacted for well-known brands, but you may actually be able to find high quality," he said.
Morehouse Foods saw the writing on the wall around Christmas time.
The Montreal manufacturer stocked up on metric tons of mustard seed, which it now keeps in giant totes.
A bird in search of food flies over a yellow flowering mustard field in Daugendorf, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. (Thomas Warnack/dpa via AP)
The company churns out popular brands of yellow mustard, but 80 per cent of its production is higher-end dijon -- but the cost of both is going up.
"The cost of a mustard bottle has doubled from last year," said Jean-Louis Chausse, food sales director at Morehouse.
He believes the shortage will ease in November... not exactly an ideal time for barbequing, but it's better than never.
"What's better than mustard on a hot dog, right?"
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Prince Harry, Meghan arrive in Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games and meet with wounded soldiers
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion the Invictus Games, which he founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists.
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.