Japan McDonald’s French Fry Rations To End In January
McDonald’s visitors in Japan will now be able to eat as many french fries as they can fit in a super-sized carton. The ration of McDonald’s french fries that has spanned weeks in Japan will no longer be in effect at the beginning of January.
NBC reports that McDonald’s Japan said operations will resume on January 5. All sizes of french fries will be available to customers. Previously, only small-size cartons were available for purchase. The shortage of fries were due to U.S. labor disruptions on the West Coast, which ships McDonald’s fries to Japan.
Japan does grow its own potatoes, but most of those are eaten fresh. Locally grown potatoes are facing declining production in Japan. Japanese consumers order more than 300,000 tons of french fries each year. Those french fries are imported from countries like the U.S., where frozen pre-cut potatoes are a leading export.
Emergency airlift puts large fries back on the menu at McDonald’s in Japan http://t.co/WAIRtq9zJe
— The Guardian (@guardian) December 26, 2014
The Washington Post adds that the french fry shipments came from the East Coast. More than 2,000 tons of airlifted replacement french fries were ordered. Japan’s 3,100 McDonald’s should be back to running regularly with those shipments. The McDonald’s Japan statement expressed that they will try to keep a better watch on available supplies in the country in the future.
“We will continue to monitor the situation carefully to do our best to ensure stable supply of potato products.”
Company officials have been apologetic for the delay in shipments in media outlets. They put the rationing measures in place to ensure that customers could still receive some french fries, said one official speaking to Kyodo News.
“This is a measure we’ve decided to take because we might run out of fries. We apologize to customers for the inconvenience.”
#blessed “@CNNMoney:.@McDonalds forced to ration fries in Japan http://t.co/HQrkGc34Vy via @IvanaKottasova pic.twitter.com/brenhkpSuZ”
— Chris Carnicle (@ccarnicle) December 17, 2014
The Inquisitr covered news of the fry shortage as the ration began. The reduction in available french fries also meant a reduction in price and a potential loss for McDonald’s Japan. The Big Mac meal, for example, was repriced from 669 yen ($5.71) to 619 yen ($5.29). Some customers expressed that they would not return to the fast food retailer until all sizes of french fries were available once more.
Japan no longer serving medium and large fries http://t.co/FdZ8HvsNCUpic.twitter.com/zoeatCmBm4 — DramaFever (@dramafever) December 21, 2014
[Photo Source: NBC News]