According to USDA data, after an outbreak of E. coli linked to romaine lettuce took the popular salad green off the shelves, prices for other types of lettuce soared. In a weeks’ time, the cost of a 24-piece carton of iceberg lettuces rose anywhere from 168 percent to 119 percent.
On Nov. 19, iceberg lettuce sold for $16.56 to $20.85 per carton. By Nov. 21, suppliers fetched between $36.65 and $39.56 for the same box.
The USDA also said supplies of iceberg were light, and said demand exceeded supply. Prices of other lettuces, including Boston, red leaf and green leaf varieties, followed a similar pattern.
According to cnbc.com¸ Trevor Suslow, the vice president of food safety for the Produce Marketing Association, consumers turned to other lettuces to substitute romaine: “As always seems to happen, there is an initial response when you take a major component out of the marketplace and others start to fill that gap. Prices certainly have taken an increase.”
For the 52 weeks ended Nov. 10, U.S. lettuce production was valued at $1.6 billion, according to the latest Nielsen figures. Romaine accounted for about 38 percent of the total lettuce category.