Facing Potato Crisis, McDonald's Indonesia Removes Large French Fries from Menu

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Fast food restaurant McDonald's Indonesia has temporarily removed the large portion of their fried potatoes known as French Fries from their menu starting tomorrow, Wednesday, February 2, 2022. This announcement was made through its official blue ticked Twitter account.

"Due to the limited availability of French Fries at this time, starting February 2, Large French Fries are temporarily unavailable," tweeted @McDonalds_ID, Monday, January 31, 2022.

However, McDonald's ensures that its customers can still enjoy medium size fries. "But don't worry McD'ers, you can still enjoy your favorite menu with Medium French Fries," continued the tweet.

In a subsequent tweet, McDonald's Indonesia also did not specifically mention when the large-size fried potato option would be available again. "Hopefully we can give you some good news as soon as possible, when the Large French Fries are available again. Be patient, McD'ers..." McDonald's tweeted.

When confirmed, McDonald's Indonesia Senior Communications Officer Zata Bening Awanis confirmed the announcement made by the company via Twitter.
"I will give an official statement soon, please wait," said Zata when contacted on Tuesday, February 1, 2022.

The problem of raw potato material is not only experienced by McDonald's in Indonesia. Previously, the fast food restaurant also rationed its fries in Malaysia.

In fact, most French fries, as well as one type of set meal, have been removed from menus at outlets in the country until further notice. “We are facing a fried food supply crisis,” McDonald's Malaysia said in a post on social media this week, reported Free Malaysia Today, Friday, January 28, 2022.

McDonald's confirmed in a statement to AFP that its branches in Malaysia are "currently experiencing supply challenges", with large portions of French fries unavailable since Monday, January 24, 2022.

McDonald's, which has hundreds of outlets in Malaysia, said it would be "closely monitoring" their supplies, and most would be made available as soon as possible.

Global supply chains have faced major disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic, causing shortages of goods ranging from food to electronics.

Earlier this month, Taiwan's McDonald's said "unstable" delivery supplies had caused some of its outlets to run out of French Fries imported from the US.

Japan's McDonald's has restricted French Fries orders on two occasions since December, blaming the pandemic and the Canadian flood for causing potato supplies to be disrupted.

McDonald's Corp. posted revenue and profit below expectations due to higher costs and sluggish sales at its more than 4,500 restaurants in Australia and China due to the pandemic. The restrictions also cut gains from growth in the United States in the fourth quarter.

Read: Police Urge McDonald's to Delete BTS Meal Promotion from Delivery App

FAIZ ZAKI | YUDONO YANUAR