Japanese multinational fast-food chains reel over potato shortage

The shortage has pushed McDonald’s Japan to temporarily drop some offerings.

Food and beverage businesses in Japan must build supply chain resilience as shipment and trade continues to reel from the pandemic and climate crisis, causing potato shortages for many multinational fast-food chains in the country such as McDonald’s, according to a report from GlobalData.

McDonald’s outlets across Japan have been suspending the sales of hash browns, and continue rationing French fries through January 2022, attributed to an acute shortage of potato stocks as floods and COVID-19 disrupted the imports from North America.

Due to the dearth of domestic potato production, and French fries processing facilities, multinational fast-food chains in Japan rely on potato imports from North America. But, severe flooding at the Vancouver port and global logistics and shipment disruptions due to the spread of Omicron have hindered North America potato shipments to Japan since December 2021.

The shortage of potato stocks compelled McDonald’s Japan to temporarily drop large and medium serve portions of fries from its menu, and retain only small-serve fries across all 2,900 outlets in Japan in mid-December 2021, GlobalData noted.

In sharp contrast to McDonald’s Japan, its domestic rival Freshness Burger procures potatoes from the Hokkaido prefecture of Japan. Subsequently, even as McDonald’s Japan is reeling from the prolonged potato shortage, Freshness Burger has reportedly rolled out a special promotion, cheekily titled “We’ve Got Potatoes”.

GlobalData’s consumer analyst Bobby Verghese noted that the Omicron and Delta wave have been triggering labor shortages and logistical challenges across the globe, and crop cultivators are coming under increasing stress due to the pronounced impact of climate change.

“The confluence of these factors is pushing the conventional supply chains towards breaking point. Food and beverage companies need to localize their supply chains to a greater extent to ensure business continuity and long-term survival amid the crisis,” Verghese said.