Flooding in B.C. and its impact on potato imports have led McDonald’s to temporarily restrict servings of medium and large orders of fries in Japan.
The company announced in a statement on Tuesday that only small orders of fries will be sold at stores nationwide in Japan starting Friday or Christmas Eve.
Sales of only small-size fries are expected to last until Dec. 30. The company has about 2,900 stores in the country.
A translated version of the company’s statement points specifically to the Port of Vancouver and shipment delays due to flood damage, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the global supply chain.
Heavy rain in southern British Columbia in November, and the flooding and mudslides that ensued, damaging infrastructure, forced residents to evacuate their homes and restricted supply chains through the Port of Vancouver.
In August, McDonald’s stopped selling milkshakes and bottled drinks at nearly 1,300 restaurants in the United Kingdom due to Brexit-related staff shortages and supply chain delays caused by the pandemic.
And last year, McDonald’s Canada said it would return to sourcing only Canadian beef after having to temporarily import some beef due to COVID-19, in part after operations were shuttered at a Cargill plant near High River, Alta., where a worker died from the coronavirus and hundreds of other employees tested positive.
With files from The Canadian Press and CNN
