- Social media influencer instigates Icelandic cucumber predicament
To sum it up, the recipe isn't complex: it's all about cucumbers, sesame oil, garlic, rice vinegar, and chili oil. However, "Cucumber Guy," a popular TikToker with 5.9 million followers, seems to have stirred up quite a sensation in Iceland, as reported by the BBC. Logan Moffitt, a Canadian known as "Cucumber Guy," has apparently turned Iceland's North Atlantic region from a cucumber scarcity into a cucumber predicament. Local influencers have spread the word, according to the BBC, sparking a trend.
The cucumber frenzy was so intense that farmers in the country found themselves struggling to meet the escalating demand, as per the Icelandic vegetable cooperative Sólúfeðlag garðyrkjumanna (SFG) to BBC News. SFG spokesperson Kristín Linda Sveinsdóttir revealed that Icelandic farmers were taken aback by the demand.
Iceland's cucumber mania
The food manager of the supermarket chain Hagkaup, Vignir Þór Birgisson, acknowledged that sales of certain recipe ingredients have doubled. However, he attributes the shortage of Icelandic cucumbers to more than just the TikTok craze, as reported by the BBC; it's a seasonal occurrence.
Sveinsdóttir also points to other contributing factors: some farmers are currently swapping cucumber seedlings. The end of the summer holidays and the return of children to school also put extra pressure on the supply. "Everything is happening simultaneously," Sveinsdóttir told the BBC. The social media trend is one of the most influential factors. "This is the first time we've encountered something like this." If the trend had surfaced earlier in the summer, the cucumber shortage wouldn't have occurred. But TikTok trends have a limited shelf life. Therefore, the SFG spokesperson anticipates the cucumber supply to return to normal "within about a week or so."
The supermarket chain Hagkaup has seen a doubling of sales for certain recipe ingredients due to the cucumber mania. Despite the influence of the TikTok trend, SFG spokesperson Kristín Linda Sveinsdóttir believes that the seasonal occurrence and return of children to school are also contributing factors to the cucumber shortage, and she expects the supply of cucumbers to return to normal within a week.
