French fries are, by far, the most-liked snack of adults and children alike. However, lately many countries around the world are facing potato shortages. This is affecting sellers and consumers of French fries and chips around the world. Popular fast-food eateries in different countries are rationing fries and other potato-based products to tackle the french fry shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China, India, Russia, Ukraine, Canada, and the United States are the World’s top potato producers. But in the last few years, many of these countries faced problems that led to a decline in overall potato production. For instance, the US had a steady decrease in the number of acres of potatoes harvested in the previous year. Meanwhile, exports from Canada were also curtailed due to floods and potato wart fungus. This caused fast-food restaurants in Japan to run short of french fries. In other words, the potato industry is a mess right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan was the first country to report the shortage of potatoes. This caused Japan McDonald’s to ration their fries and other potato-based products. After Japan, now Indonesia is facing potato shortages. Due to the limited availability of French fries, customers can order only small and medium-sized french fries from McDonald’s in Indonesia. “Hopefully we can bring good news as soon as possible when the Large French Fries are available again. Be patient, McD’ers,\u201d said McDonald’s Indonesia in a tweet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was followed by an announcement from McDonald’s in neighboring Malaysia that for the time being, large fries are not available. “We are facing a fry-tening supply crunch on French Fries. But fret not. While you can\u2019t Go Large for the time being, you can still enjoy your favorite meals and fries in Medium size. Time fries\u2026 It\u2019ll be back before you know it,\u201d McDonald\u2019s Malaysia said on Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, KFC Kenya tweeted that it was offering fried chicken as an alternative side dish to combat the shortage of french fries. Due to the company’s quality assurance procedure, KFC Kenya uses potatoes imported from Egypt. And the potatoes shortage turned out to be due to delayed shipment owing to COVID-19 related problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Potato chip supplies are running low in South Africa as well. The reason is that the weather had been bad for a few varieties of potatoes that are used by companies such as Lays to make potato chips. \u201cWe experienced disruptions in our potato supply due to frost conditions affecting crop yields,\u201d said John Stevenson, a senior vice president at snack maker PepsiCo Sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Potatoes are as a staple food as it gets and the global potato industry does seem to be suffering. But as Dan Nosowitz pointed out, lack of versatility in global agricultural trade is the root cause as opposed to shortage of potatoes itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
French fries are, by far, the most-liked snack of adults and children alike. However, lately many countries around the world […]<\/p>\n