Cucumber Shortage in Iceland – Following Viral Trend | World

The viral trend has its roots in Canada, where Logan Moffitt, also known as “Cucumber Man,” has been sharing recipes for different types of cucumber salads with his 5.5 million-plus followers almost every day since July.

double sales

The trend seems to be particularly popular in Iceland, where cucumber shelves in many grocery stores have been empty for some time, the BBC reported. For example, the Hagkaup chain doubled its cucumber sales over the summer.

Kristin Linda Sveinsdottir, marketing director at Icelandic agricultural organisation SGF, told the BBC that farmers on the island are currently unable to keep up with growing consumer demand.

“This is the first time we've experienced something like this,” she says.

“Everything happens at the same time”

In a recipe that seems to have caused a stir among Icelanders, cucumbers are mixed with sesame oil and rice vinegar. Even those ingredients have seen an increase in sales, Hagkop's purchasing manager told the BBC.

However, Kristin Linda Svensdottir doesn’t think it’s just the TikTok trend that’s contributed to the cucumber shortage. Some cucumber growers are replacing their cucumber plants at this time of year. In addition, children are returning to school after the summer holidays, which puts additional pressure on sales.

“It's all happening at the same time,” Svensdottir points out, but he also says the trend in social media is one of the most important contributing factors.

Want to make salad too? Here's the recipe!