Major world events now tend to unfold on social media. The global shrimp shortage is no exception.
“Why did you guys take SHRIMP off the line! My husband won’t let us come anymore,” writes Stacie Rutledge on the Facebook page for Genghis Grill, a Dallas-based fast-casual chain with 70 locations.
In October and early November Rutledge and other Genghis Grill customers took to Twitter and the franchise’s Facebook page after discovering they could no longer add their favorite protein to the chain’s signature “build your own stir fry” dish.
“Stacie, currently there is a global shrimp shortage because of problems with disease and years of over-shrimping causing a huge price increase,” wrote back a social media administrator for Genghis Grill, which is responsive to both positive and negative comments on the page (though not to reporter requests for interviews). “As a company we decided that we didn’t want to pass this cost on to our fans and instead opted to temporarily take it off the line. Until we are able to bring it back we encourage all of our fans to try one of our many other bowl combinations, with so many options the possibilities are endless!!”
But those endless possibilities are no substitute for shrimp. Several customers expressed their frustration in all caps and expletive-filled posts; others tried to find solutions to hasten shrimp’s return to the menu.
Click here to read the full story that ran in the December issue of SeaFood Business >
December 5, 2013
