TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Could a West Coast staple be on the way to the Sunshine State — all because of vaccine mandates?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had a call Monday with In-N-Out Burger president Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson, according to his office's daily schedule. While the exact details of the two's chat aren't laid out in the release, the governor's spokesperson Christina Pushaw said the two held a "productive conversation" about opening locations in Florida.
At issue in the meantime is the lack of food suppliers in Florida for the left coast chain.
"As the President of In-n-Out explained, the suppliers of all their ingredients are on the West Coast," Pushaw said in a statement, in part. "Of course, Florida also has some of the best farms and cattle ranches in the country, and the governor discussed this with the president of In-n-Out.
"If they can identify suppliers for all their ingredients here, which we believe is possible, In-n-out could expand to Florida. Governor DeSantis is willing to help with this and would welcome this great company to Florida, the best state to do business."
Last month, state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said he'd be "honored" to help the restaurant chain "find the perfect place to start a new In-N-Out story right here in Florida" after reports surfaced that an In-N-Out Burger in San Francisco was forced to close after it didn't follow the city's proof of COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
A couple of weeks later, the company closed all five of its dining rooms in Contra Costa County, California, because it did not want to comply with local health mandates.
"We refuse to become the vaccination police for any government," Arnie Wensinger, the chain’s chief legal and business officer, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, in part.
It's the sort of position that mirrors the views of the DeSantis administration, which recently announced the state is suing the federal government on multiple fronts, including its vaccine-or-test rule for large employers and vaccine mandate for federal workers and contractors.
RELATED: Everything you need to know about Florida's special legislative session to fight vaccine mandates
Florida lawmakers will return to Tallahassee on Nov. 15 for a special legislative session to restrain some of the federal orders.