These are dark days for French fry fans in Japan. In December, McDonald’s Japan announced that it would be suspending sales of all French fry orders except smalls due to a potato shortage, and though they promised this would only last a few days, the chain has now said that the rationing will be continuing.
Casey Baseel reports in this SoraNews24 news story that rival Japanese fast food chain Freshness Burger, has decided to declare themselves Japan’s ‘spud saviors’ with a promotion simply called “We’ve Got Potatoes!”
Freshness Burger wants everyone to know that they’ve got plenty of French fry ingredients on hand. So from now until February 27, Freshness Burger will be increasing the amount of French fires in its regular and large-size orders, as well as its combo meals, by 25 percent and without increasing the price.
McDonald’s potato rationing was triggered by flood damage at the port of Vancouver and pandemic-related international shipping difficulties, since it gets its potatoes from North America. Freshness Burger, on the other hand, sources its potatoes domestically, from Japan’s northern prefecture of Hokkaido, meaning it doesn’t have to worry about the infrastructure and international border crossings headaches that McDonald’s is dealing with.
