If you’ve not checked your “What Are We Running Low On Now” bingo card lately, give it a look to see if you have the Dijon mustard square. According to reports from both Canada and France, the condiment could be in short supply for the next few months.
One major factor in the shortage? It’s that pesky climate change, again. As Food & Wine reports, Canada is one of the world’s biggest exporters of mustard seeds, and ongoing drought-like conditions in the western part of the country led to a poor harvest this season. According to an outlook report from Agriculture and Agri Food Canada (AAFC), both the crop yield per hectare and the overall production levels have fallen by almost 50 percent compared to last year.
Luc Vandermaesen, the general manager of French mustard producer Reine de Dijon, told The Guardian that mustard seeds weren’t faring much better in France. “In Burgundy, the region had a very wet winter and then three days of cold at the beginning of April last year, so we only harvested about 48 [percent] of expectations,” he explained to the outlet.
Another factor? The war in Ukraine. Many people don’t know that this Eastern European country exports a significant amount of seeds, and the toll the country’s fertile farm lands have taken as a result of Vladimir Putin’s Russian invasion, has dramatically affected mustard’s availability.
As a result of this year’s smaller crop, the average price of mustard seeds is expected to skyrocket. “The price of seeds has gone up three or four times, and maybe five times soon,” Christophe Planes, the French sales director at Reine de Dijon, previously told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “And, on top of that, there is no supply. The scarcity is such that we have a potential 50 percent decrease in seeds… so our production is down 50 percent.”
The price of mustard has increased by nine percent in France, according to one study, but customers may not have noticed yet. Vandermaesen told the Financial Times that the average resident in France spent less than $5 (€4.80) every year on mustard. But that’s no solace to people who are currently trying to buy a jar: one resident harrumphed to the Times that he’d been to “25 shops” and still couldn’t find “the good stuff.”
Here in the U.S., we may not be facing a condiment-related catastrophe… yet. A spokesperson for McCormick & Company said in an interview with Axios that a “resilient global supply chain and strong sourcing capabilities” had prevented the company from facing any current shortages. “French’s Mustard will be on store shelves for consumers to enjoy,” the company said.
Similarly, a Kraft Heinz spokesperson told the outlet that Grey Poupon should still be available as usual. “As soon as our cross-functional Grey Poupon team identified a potential supply issue, we immediately worked to identify other sources of brown mustard seed in different parts of the world,” the company confirmed to Axios.
So the answer to the question above? “But of course!” For now, at least. Le sigh.
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