Mustard Is Now A Rare Condiment
Mustard is one the quintessential condiments enjoyed in the United States, but it may soon become hard to come by.
Due to environmental factors and ongoing geopolitical conflicts, food cultivation and distribution have been severely affected. Ukraine and Russia have enormous industries for wheat and fertilizer, products that farmers need worldwide. When sanctions were imposed on Russia in March 2022, major supply chain interruptions restricted the number of farming products that were circulated. Food favorites such as sriracha and wine have had distribution issues, reducing their availability in stores across the globe. Dijon mustard is one of those quintessential condiments currently affected by massive supply chain disruptions.
Though dijon mustard is named after the French city in the Burgundy region, Canada is the largest producer and exporter of mustard seeds. Canada’s weather is already rough, but combine it with a nationwide drought, and you’ll surely get bad results. Due to the ongoing drought at the beginning of 2022, mustard seed farmers couldn’t cultivate enough needed crops. Compared to last year, crop harvesting has dropped by over 50% since last year. That’s left Canada, and the mustard industry, in a devastating spot.
Across the ocean to Europe, mustard seed harvesting wasn’t doing much better. Luc Vandermaesen, the GM of French mustard producer Reine de Dijon, corroborated this sentiment, stating that France experienced a “very wet winter” plus chilly weather in April, damaging the crops. The farmers were only able to harvest 48% of the available crops, which has led to significantly less mustard to go around. Vandermaesen also noted that the ongoing war in Ukraine affected mustard seed distribution since Ukraine and Russia are substantial exporters of the ingredient.
When there’s high demand for a product with less availability, the price inevitably skyrockets. The mustard seed price has tripled since last year, but experts think its current costly nature could keep accelerating. Between farmers worldwide, only 50% of available mustard seed crops could be harvested successfully, which leaves mustard distributors financially burdened. If the scarcity of mustard seed continues, it’s likely that dijon mustard, and other mustard condiments, might appear less frequently on grocery store shelves.
In France, the price for a jar of mustard increased this year by 9%. Though this is a significant jump, many customers have yet to notice the increase. This could be because almost all ingredients, foods, and general goods have had lofty price boosts throughout 2022. People expect foods to cost more now, which may be why there hasn’t been visible consumer outcry around mustard expenses. In France, though, the mustard deficit is already setting in. Patrons have noticed mustard missing in many French grocery stores, which may soon affect other grocery stores in different countries.
In the US, hard times haven’t fallen on mustard enjoyers quite yet. Big mustard distributors in America, Kraft Heinz and McCormick & Company, both made statements about the availability of their mustard products. McCormick & Company stated that they hadn’t had a problem with its supply chain yet, and its iconic French’s Mustard will remain on store shelves. Kraft Heinz, the owner of Grey Poupon, made a similar statement about its mustard products. Heinz said they changed their mustard-seed sellers and have found a way to circumvent the shortage.
