A widespread shortage of meatless Gardenburgers has put veggie patties in short supply and high demand. The Seattle Times reports that Gardenburgers have been scarce since April and May, when parent company Kellogg's discovered a quality control issue. Stressed rivals Boca Burger, MorningStar Farms, and Amy's Kitchen are scrambling to meet the veggie burger needs of the country.
According to Kellogg's, the shortage of Gardenburgers was due to plant improvements. However, it says production is back in full swing:
We are working as hard as we can to fill orders in time for the summer grilling season.
Don't be surprised if (as our copy editor recently discovered) your request for a meatless burger gets turned down. I favor a beef patty to an all-veggie one, so I won't be too affected by the shortage. What about you? Have you wondered where all the garden burgers have gone?
Rosato
Emporio Armani
Goldsmiths
hmmm...i wonder how well known the quality control issue was since i know that i'm not aware of it and i eat Gardenburgers. at least things are back up and running. to be honest, there are certain 'flavors' that i prefer from different brands, and it's good to have a variety. i started on Boca Burgers, but i like Garden a lot.
1Mmmmmmmm, Gardenburgers. . . . . . I haven't noticed a problem, but now that you got me thinking about it, I may just have to test it out tonight
2I haven't noticed a shortage, but lately I've taken to making my own veggie burgers over buying prepared ones. Last week I made spiced black bean burgers with avocado and salsa that were true crowd pleasers, meat-eaters and veg alike!
3I now eat tofu burgers which are quite tasty.
4I've only eaten four my entire life. =D
5I prepare my own for lunch or dinner rather than order one. I have problem with the fact that many restaurants will place the veggie burgers on the same grill has meat to heat them or give them more noticeable grill marks. I have friend who works at Chili's that says they do this with the Black Bean Burger and often times the chef doesn't wipe the grill down first. I prefer to order something that is less likely to combine with meat byproduct.
6I did notice they were scarce, but I just thought all the veggie-heads in my town were snatching them up
Morningstars asian veggie burger is the Bomb.
7Scarce Gardenburgers? Madness, I tell you! Good substitute? Roasted portabello mushrooms and other grilled veggies. Yum!
8I usually eat Morningstar.
BTW, Caterpillar, I totally had the Asian Veggie burger for lunch today! Any suggestions for sides/toppings? It was my first one trying the Asian Veggie. I always eat them on an english muffin, and I just put a slice of my lemon cucumber on top.
9my husband commented yesterday that they were short on all kinds of veggie burgers at the store -- I guess this is why!
10I agree Gigglesugar, I was totally going to say myself that grilled portabello mushrooms and zuchinni, red onion, etc. is SO much better than any packaged meatless burger, I guess not as easy but way,way better.
11Savvy, I loooked up the spicy black bean burger on epicurious and am so going to try it!
Ilanac13—you can put your fears aside. The quality control issue was non-food safety-related, so nobody was hurt in the recent eating of any Gardenburgers. (Whew!)
12I didn't notice any but I don't really buy that brand.
13I've never actually had one. I will say this, though - there's a horrifyingly greasy burger place here in Ann Arbor called Blimpy Burger that has a veggie burger on the menu. I'd never understood how a place practically coated in animal fat could cook one of those on the griddle and serve it with a straight face. Turns out they deep fry them: the fryer's the only thing that's fully vegetarian!
14CaterpillarGirl, those are AWESOME!! I also like the new Italian Herb Chik'n!! Yummmm.
15In Indian grocery stores they have veggie burgers in the freezer section too, and let me tell you they are YUUUUUUUUUMMY! They don't really have the traditional Indian taste to them, but they do have "masala burger" options too.
16I like the MF black bean burgers the best. The rest are too mushroomy (which I hate) or too soy based (which I shouldn't eat, can't really have soy products but the low protein ones are okay once in awhile. Maybe).
17I bought Boca burgers this morning at Meijer--I actually did notice that there didn't seem to be a very large selection. I love Boca, but honestly I've never tried Gardenburger. Burger King's veggie burger is Morningstar Farms I think? It's pretty good.
18I think I will stick to my beef burgers! YUM!
19Garden burger taste bad and that was before their quality control issues LOL. I prefer morning star anyway.
20I don't care for Gardenburgers. I prefer Boca. I will say that I was at Burger King over the weekend (!) and I ordered their veggie burger, which appeared to be a Gardenburger. So if you're really unable to find them, stop by BK.
21Oh, I see that Kate Marie just posted something similar about Burger King -- I looked it up. It does appear to be Morningstar.
22Hmmm. I had noticed a shortage, but thought it was just my local grocery. I've been buying Boca more, but I really prefer Gardenburger.
23I like Amy's veggie burgers, so I actually didn't notice that Gardenburgers were scarce.
24I work in the Natural Foods department at a grocery store and I was wondering why we haven't been able to get Gardenburgers in. I've asked my manager about it and she said "Oh, I dunno." That'd be fine if customers hadn't yelled at me about the shortage.
At least now I know what to tell people, though they'll probably still blame me. As if I control these things.
25I've always preferred Morning Star to all.. after that Boca.
26I love veggie burgers however I usually buy Morningstar or Boca; Dr.Praeger's is also good company however you need to season it abit otherise it is dull (you can buy it at costco.)
27Haven't bought one for awhile, but my friend tried to order one last night only to be told that they were out. Come to think of it, that might be why they have been out for the past few weeks at the pub by my house and i always get stuck eating a veggie taco
28I always get a gardenburger with pineapple on it and then I put bbq sauce on the bun. And it's so good. I get it at Burger Meister in SF, and they've been out the last two times. I went to two different locations, which was rather sad. They grill it so it makes it so much better than it probably would normally be. Also, pineapple!
29Uptown Girl, here's how I like to eat the Asian patties: I cut it into strips, and then stuff it into a toasted pita, with banana peppers, feta, and yogurt. YUM.
I'm also a big fan of the BK veggie burger (add cheese, add pickles, please!).
Morningstar Farms Mushroom Lovers patties are SO good.
30I never knew they had Indian veggie burgers! I am a morningstar gal myself. I LOVE veggie burgers...I suppose being a vegetarian I would.
31There are plenty of gardenburgers at my local store, but I couldn't find Boca burgers anywhere! (I had a coupon for Boca...had to get a gardenburger instead, but thats ok cause its better!!!)
32A week ago, I was visiting in Idaho and ordered a Gardenburger and they said they'd been recalled. Now I know why!
33I have been to two Dallas area restaurants in the last 3 days and both were out of Veggie Burgers -one serves Gardenburgers and the other black bean patties similar to Boka Burgers. I had no idea what was going on until now! Thank you for letting us know!
34I am still waiting for garden / veggie burgers to be available!
35Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.