Tater Tragedy: McDonald’s Philippines halts sales of large fries due to potato shortage 

Indonesia joined Japan and Malaysia in the list of Asian countries in which McDonald’s have been forced to take the large french fries off their menu due to supply shortage. Photo: McDonald’s Indonesia
Indonesia joined Japan and Malaysia in the list of Asian countries in which McDonald’s have been forced to take the large french fries off their menu due to supply shortage. Photo: McDonald’s Indonesia

If you’ve recently left a McDonald’s counter frustrated and clueless as to why they’re out of larger french fry sizes, then the fast food chain has some answers: McDonald’s Philippines has announced that the global shipping crisis has caused a shortage of their beloved french fries.

“Our regular fries are extra special these days,” the brand wrote on social media. “The supply of our World Famous Fries is limited because of the global freight crisis. That’s why you haven’t been seeing our fries in big red fry boxes (medium, large, and BFF) in the stores.”

At the moment, McDo customers can only order regular-sized french fries.

The Philippines isn’t the only country suffering from a french fry shortage, though. In January, the Washington Post wrote that COVID-19 and other factors such as bad weather and labor disputes were causing issues with the potato supply chain. Following that, countries such as Singapore and Indonesia have suffered from significant spud shortfalls leading to limits on french fry orders. In South Korea, the problem is so bad that McDonald’s there has recently resorted to replacing french fry side orders with chicken nuggets or cheese sticks instead.



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