Hot weather usually drives salad sales, but due to the continuous spread of cyclospora outbreak, American consumers have been avoiding lettuce this summer, leading to a decline in performance for salad chain restaurants.
According to CNBC’s report on Saturday (August 8), data from Placer.ai showed that the foot traffic at Chopt Creative Salad Co., a salad chain restaurant, dropped by 24% on the second day (July 18) after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the outbreak.
Another salad chain restaurant, Sweetgreen, stated on Thursday (August 6) that consumer concerns about the outbreak led to a roughly 6-percentage-point decrease in sales for July, prompting the company to lower its annual performance expectations.
Earlier this week, emerging chain restaurant Salad and Go filed for bankruptcy protection and closed all its stores, citing that the outbreak exacerbated its existing business challenges.
Even grocery stores were not spared. Data from consumer behavior insights and market research consultancy NielsenIQ showed that sales of pre-packaged salads decreased by 14% year-on-year for the four weeks ending on July 25.
The FDA indicated that romaine lettuce processed at a factory in central Mexico supplied by Taylor Farms was likely the culprit of this outbreak. The outbreak has resulted in at least 10,000 illnesses. Taylor Farms has voluntarily recalled the products supplied by the factory.
Taco Bell, owned by Yum Brands, is the only national chain restaurant associated with the multistate outbreak. Following the FDA’s announcement, Taco Bell saw a significant drop in sales and foot traffic.
The FDA is currently tracking at least six outbreaks where the pathogens have not been identified yet, with reported cases noticeably decreasing. Cyclospora has a longer incubation period, making it difficult to pinpoint the contaminated sources.
Cyclospora is a waterborne parasite typically transmitted through contaminated produce, such as lettuce, scallions, raspberries, and fresh herbs. The FDA still recommends consumers take more cleaning measures, like peeling outer layers of fruits and vegetables before consumption.
In response, chain restaurants have begun taking steps to reassure customers.
For example, Sweetgreen emphasized that romaine lettuce has never been offered on their menu. On their 19th anniversary, CEO Jonathan Neman took to social media to state that their restaurants have never served romaine lettuce and only source lettuce grown domestically in the US.
Similarly, Just Salad’s founder and CEO, Nick Kenner, detailed their food safety measures on LinkedIn, such as stripping outer leaves of romaine and kale and double-washing the leaves.
Chopt also shared information on food safety on Instagram.
“Food safety is always at the core of our operations… We promise to continue closely monitoring guidance from public health officials and strive to earn your praise every time you visit us,” the company wrote.
For many chain restaurants and diners, an encouraging sign is that the danger may be passing.
The Michigan Department of Health announced on Thursday that residents can once again consume lettuce and salad vegetables, with the widespread preventive advice to avoid bagged salads during the cyclospora outbreak no longer being effective.
“Residents can return to their previous food handling practices and make choices based on their own risk tolerance,” the agency stated in a release.
Michigan is the most severely affected state in this outbreak, with two reported deaths and over 12,400 cases of infection.