CHICAGO (FNS) -- El Nino's effect is flooding beyond the produce aisles and into deli.
rambling to procure what precious few heads of lettuce and flats of strawberries are available, and are being forced to scrutinize the cost of the ingredients in relation to the price of the prepared item.
The struggle has prompted Dominick's Finer Foods, for one, to reformulate the ingredients of its signature Rotini Caesar salads.
The prepacked salads, found in the Northlake, Ill.-based operator's Chef's Collection section, have of late not been using Romaine lettuce as an ingredient. Lofty mid-May Romaine prices persuaded the chain to use a combination of iceberg lettuce with some red cabbage.
A sign within the case alerts customers: "Due to the El Nino weather conditions in California, we are unable to purchase Romaine Lettuce for our Caesar Rotini Salad until further notice. We expect this situation to last several months. We will need to substitute head lettuce in all of our salad preparations until further notice. We apologize for the inconvenience."
While Romaine is the traditional backbone for Caesar salads, the chain was apparently trying to win over customers to the new formulation by aggressively sampling its signature salad.
The signature salad combines Rotini pasta with its hallmarked Caesar Rotini as well as other varieties such as Lite Caesar Rotini Shrimp Salad and Vesuvio Chicken Caesar Rotini Salad.
