The golden arches are looking a bit tarnished in Japan these days. With the iconic fast-food chain, McDonald’s, still struggling to recover from an expired meat scandal that came to light earlier this year, its sales are now being fried by a shortage of potatoes due to a labor dispute at U.S. West Coast ports.
McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd. said it would temporarily stop selling medium- and large-sized french fries starting Wednesday at its 3,100 outlets across the country. Instead, medium-sized meals will come with a smaller order of fries and cost ¥50 less. Chicken McNuggets will also be offered with such meals for ¥100.
McDonald’s Japan has only been able to get about 55 percent of the potatoes it planned on ordering for December, a company spokeswoman said. As an emergency measure, it imported more than 1,000 tons by air, and another 1,600 tons by ship from the U.S. East Coast.
The company has no plans to turn to other countries for potatoes for now, as it doesn’t have the capability to make fries outside of the U.S.
The news comes at a bad time for McDonald’s Japan, as it struggles to recover from the meat-supply problem that came to light in July, when supplier Shanghai Husi Food Co. was accused in Chinese media of intentionally selling expired meat to restaurant companies. McDonald’s Japan, which had been buying its chicken nuggets from Shanghai Husi, quickly halted sales of products made with Chinese chicken.
McDonald’s Japan marked the tenth straight monthly sales decline in November, and reported a ¥9.4 billion ($80 million) net loss in the July-September period. It expects to report a full-year net loss of ¥17 billion, the first loss in 11 years.
Source: The Wall Street Journal