The fast-food chain has taken French fries off the menu and expects shortages to continue until fall
Former McDonald’s restaurants, reopened in Russia under a new name last month, have removed fries from the menu following a poor potato harvest and supply-chain issues.
Oleg Paroev, CEO of the company now called ‘Vkusno i Tochka’ or ‘Just Tasty’, said major French fries producers were unwilling to supply the sanctions-hit nation.
“What has happened now is that – due to well-known events – many foreign companies, I would even say all major producers of fries, have refused to deliver this product to Russia,” he said on Thursday in an interview with Russian business channel RBC TV.
Paroev added that factories in both “friendly” and “unfriendly” nations are owned by five or six major fries producers registered in unfriendly nations, which have therefore refused to supply to Russia.
He also cited a shortage of particular potatoes needed for French fries in Russia, adding that only a few enterprises are capable of processing potatoes for this purpose.
A wide range of Western companies were forced to cut business ties with Russia either due to public pressure or under the threat of sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to its military operation in neighboring Ukraine.
McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food chain, announced plans to shut its restaurants in Russia and suspend all operations in March. In May, the giant agreed to sell its business in the country to an existing licensee, Aleksandr Govor.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in Russia opened in central Moscow more than three decades ago. The company had outlets in 850 Russian towns and cities, employed around 62,000 people, and worked with hundreds of local suppliers.
McDonald’s has the right to buy back its restaurants in Russia within 15 years.
