[SINGAPORE] South-east Asian fast-food chains are being hit by a scarcity of French fries as supply-chain snarls sluggish shipments of the frozen merchandise from the US and Europe.
Indicators at a few of Yum! Manufacturers’s KFC retailers in Singapore knowledgeable prospects that the corporate would change facet orders of fries with potato waffles on account of a “international provide disruption.”
McDonald’s shops in Malaysia and Indonesia halted gross sales of large-size parts of fries late final month for a similar purpose, in accordance with firm notices posted on Twitter.
“The pandemic-related disruptions proceed to have a multi-prong impact on the worldwide provide chain and distribution community,” Diana Hoo, advertising supervisor at KFC Singapore, mentioned by e mail. The corporate has some shares of fries at its retailers in Singapore, however they’re restricted, she mentioned.
International provide chains have come beneath stress from the Omicron virus variant in current months on account of elevated customs checks at ports and labour shortages throughout the transport sector.
McDonald’s was pressured to ration French fries in Japan late final 12 months after flooding at Canada’s Vancouver port and the coronavirus choked off provides. Quick-food chains usually use shipped frozen fries, reasonably than sourcing potatoes and making them themselves.
KFC Singapore’s fries are imported from the US and Europe, Hoo mentioned. Labour shortages and decrease crop yields within the Pacific Northwest – the place the well-known Idaho potatoes are grown – have been exacerbated by congestion at US and Canadian ports on the west coast, she mentioned.
Container items coming into Singapore’s ports are additionally dealing with longer-than-usual delays. A mean of 17 container ships per day waited to berth on the world’s second-busiest port in January, up from 15 vessels in December, in accordance with logistics intelligence agency project44. BLOOMBERG