Lettuce shortage impacting local distributors and consumers

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — You might have a hard time finding good or affordable lettuce in the coming weeks due to a lettuce shortage.

Jaime Chamberlain is the President of Chamberlain Distributing and has been in the business for 34 years.

“We’ve seen a disease that’s hit the crops that hasn’t been seen in decades,” he said. “It’s approaching $70 a box right now.”

The crops affected are in Salinas Valley—a region Chamberlain refers to as the breadbasket of the United States because of its high productivity of crops. “They have losses between 60 and 70% of their yields,” he said.

Restaurant owner Alejandro Diaz is already starting to feel the impacts at the consumer level.

“One thing that’s important to me is giving super fresh, clean lettuce. We’ve definitely had a hard time finding it,” said Diaz.

He said when he has, it’s been hard to find good quality lettuce. He's had to search outside of his usual vendors.

“It makes it harder in that we have to take those trips. It’s a little bit more expensive that way. And I don’t always get the amount that I need because maybe they just don’t have the amounts that I’m looking for,” he said.

Chamberlain said a lettuce distributor in Yuma along with trade between other countries could alleviate the problem. But for the most part, we’re going to continue to see high prices.