Ukraine, the French fries crisis of Russian McDonald’s

Supply chain crisis or effect of sanctions. It is not about chips or rare materials, nor about wheat stuck in Ukrainian ports, but potatoes. In some of the new Russian fast food places “Vkusno i tochka” (delicious and that’s it) opened in June instead of McDonald’s, closed a few weeks after the start of the war against Ukraine, fried potatoes and “rustic potatoes”, a slightly thicker version, are missing from the menus. And they won’t be there until the fall. The question, only apparently of a full second, soon turned into politics, with the government taking the field to deny any kind of supply problem. The right potatoes to produce the dishes that accompany the burgers are nowhere to be found. In 2021, the harvest of this variety went badly, the company is justified in a statement published by Tass. In general, the potatoes are bought from local producers, they specify in the climate of self-sufficiency that reigns now in Russia. But in recent months it is also impossible to import potatoes from markets that could have offered an interim solution. Hence, there are no alternatives. No fried potatoes. The Ministry of Agriculture then intervened, mimicking the name of the fast food chain, ensuring that “the potatoes are there and point”. “The Russian market is stocked with potatoes, including processed potatoes. In addition, the new crop is coming which excludes the possibility of a shortage of the product,” the ministry added.