Wednesday December 22, 2021
Small portions until New Year’s Eve
McDonald’s rations french fries in Japan
Celebrating the Christmas holidays with fast food is going to be more difficult in Japan this year for at least one chain. Due to delivery problems, McDonald’s has to reduce the fries portions by the end of the year. It’s not the first time.
The fast food chain McDonald’s in Japan only sells small portions of french fries for a week due to delivery problems. From December 24th to 30th, the portion sizes will be limited to avoid further bottlenecks, the company said.
The import of potatoes was delayed – because of flooding in the port of Vancouver in Canada and because of the general logistics problems caused by the Corona crisis. To compensate, efforts are being made to import by plane, it said.
Around 2900 McDonald’s fast-food restaurants in Japan are affected. Currently, no customers in other markets are affected, said McDonald’s. The company is closely monitoring the situation around the world, said a spokesman for the Chicago-based company.
It’s not the first time Japan has been hit by a french fries crisis. The fast food company had to ration the portions seven years ago. In 2014, collective bargaining on the other side of the Pacific was responsible for this, causing problems at 29 US ports.
In addition, McDonald’s is currently not the only company in Japan complaining of delivery problems. The supply crisis for electronic components is particularly troubling the automotive industry. According to a quarterly survey (“Tankan”) published by the Japanese central bank two weeks ago, the sentiment index for the Japanese automaker around industry leader Toyota fell by one point between September and December compared to the previous quarter to minus eight. A negative index means that the pessimists in the industry are in the majority.