There’s nothing wrong with indulging in a little comfort food after a hard week at work or school, and no doubt the mouths of KFC fans were watering as they made their way to the chain’s branches in Japan last weekend. Unfortunately, many of them had to walk away with less than the full fried satisfaction they’d been hoping for when they saw this.
That’s a notice from KFC Japan saying that they’re out of French fries, and not in the sense of “We’ve got a batch in the fryer, but it’s not ready yet.” No, what the poster says is that the restaurant is entirely out of potatoes, and so it’s stopped selling French fries until it can get more, a process that’s going to take weeks.
Once again, the reason for this jarring roadblock to one of life’s simplest and purest forms of happiness is the coronavirus. The pandemic is continuing to cause problems for the shipping and logistics industries, and the disruption of the supply routes for KFC Japan’s potatoes, which the chain imports, forced the company to start suspending French fry sales starting last Friday.
The sudden disappearance of KFC’s fries has left a hole in the heart of fans, who’ve taken to Twitter to grieve together with comments like;
“It’s true. I went to KFC and they were all out.”
“I’m in shock.”
“This has got me surprisingly shaken up on an emotional level.”
“Crazy how many things are affected by the coronavirus.”
Not every KFC branch has suspended French fry sales, but without new shipments of potatoes coming in it’s probably more accurate to think of them as simply not having suspended them yet. KFC currently expects to be able to start selling French fries again on October 21, though even that golden light at end of the tunnel is tentative, and may vary by branch, the company says.
Source: KFC Japan via IT Media, Twitter
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51 Comments
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qazwsx
KFC has the worst potatoes. McDonald’s and Mos burger are much better
Kyakusenbi_Arimasu
KFC potatoes taste like potatoes. McYD's taste like trans-fat grease here in Japan.
Yubaru
KFC fries are deep fried mush! Why in the hell anyone would care is beyond me!
MarkX
Never get their fries, always opt for a biscuit instead!
JeffLee
Welcome to the global supply-chain crunch. These bottlenecks are taking place in plenty of countries, except if somethings happen in the UK, then all the non-conservatives tell us it's Brexit's fault.
kitts
Their カーネリングポテト (don't know the English) was good, but time-limited as it happens. Regular fries - I'm not gonna miss it.
TokyoJoe
Yes, I'm still waiting for the plague of locusts and the sky to fall in. Anyday now all due to Brexit.
snowymountainhell
A KFC shortage while McDonald’s has an abundance. Mac’s current promo is ANY size for only ¥150.
bass4funk
Not a fan of Japanese potatoes, too hard and bland, prefer the Idaho Russet or the Yukon Gold, nice and creamy.
bass4funk
I tried most of them, but meh....prefer the Idaho russets or Yukon Gold more.
bass4funk
1 or 2 and plant them as a matter of fact.
Sometimes, but it's not that I am ecstatic by eating the potatoes here, but at home, I have my red, and russets
I grow them from back home as well. The Japanese ones are way too dry for my taste.
Peter14
A trip for take away at KFC or Macca's always includes fries for me. If they have no fries then I would go elsewhere. They must be losing quite a bit of business from this shortage.
Jim
KFC in Japan is terrible! Too much oil and less and less flavor…seems like the staff don’t have skills to make the product or just cost cutting measures! Japanese fried chicken sold in other restaurants are much better!
bass4funk
True and NO sides! No beans, No mashed potatoes, No macaroni. Just chicken and often strange flavors, now I get it, Japan can do what it wants and they cater to the market, but it's just not my taste and I can't even choose my own parts, I can get what they give me, so No thanks. KFC is tolerable, but overall I don't eat a lot of fried chicken in Japan because I just don't like saggy skin, I am always amazed at how the Japanese can enjoy greasy soggy skin, just not for me.
snowymountainhell
Will back you up on the better quality Yukon Gold & Idaho Russets @bass4funk 7:21pm for the Pacific Northwest. - Also, seems like just last week we touch on the poor KFC quality of chicken(?) in Japan?
albaleo
Do those non-conservatives include the Road Haulage Association?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729
bass4funk
True, but for the 12-hour trip it was easy to put in my check-in luggage.
I don't know anything about that since I don't eat chips. I prefer corn tortilla chips.
cleo
Do you declare them at customs? I’m pretty sure they’re very strict about bringing in viable plants.
I like to grow Inca no Mezame and Inca no Hitomi. I love Matilda and buy them from the Coop (the only place that stocks them round here) but have never had much success growing them. Maybe I have the wrong kind of soil.
I won’t lose any sleep over shortages of fast food chips.
bass4funk
I didn't know that, but I just cared about bringing some of that tasty potato with to plant, grow and consume.
Have not seen them, nor eaten them. but I have a ton now over the last 4 years, I just keep re-planting them and I never run out of them or the red potatoes.
Nope!
Yes, they are and that's why I hid them at the time.
I like to grow Inca no Mezame and Inca no Hitomi. I love Matilda and buy them from the Coop (the only place that stocks them round here) but have never had much success growing them. Maybe I have the wrong kind of soil.
The great thing about potatoes is that they just grow like crazy and throughout the winter and by Spring, they are just everywhere.
snowymountainhell
In Japan @bass4funk, most corn & flour tortillas I’ve seen, the El Paso & Corona brands at Seiyu, TRIAL & Kaldi, are labeled “imported from Australia” rather that Mexico or the U.S. Even if we colluded bring in Yukon Gold the propagate and cultivate potatoes from the “eyes”, it’s the same soil conditions of the NW that would be hard to duplicate.
snowymountainhell
oops! Nix “colluded” and replace with “could”. - (Don’t want to alarm the CT’s)
bass4funk
There is some truth in that, didn't have so much luck with the Yukon Gold, so I gave up on that one.
Martimurano
I feel sorry for the poor commenters who were "in shock", or "surprisingly shaken up on an emotional level" when they realised they couldn't have their KFC fries.
They should try working in a Coronavirus hospital ward, and their sense of proportion may return....
mountainpear
@Zichi Thanks for that list! Very useful! Never seen Idaho potatoes here. Most of the American potatoes I've seen have been in the form of frozen french fries or hash browns!
snowymountainhell
Wow, what a ‘downer’ ****@Martimurano 9:36pm. We haven’t seen one “emotional” or “shaken” post as ONLY You allege. - MOST here were just laughing at the non-Newsworthyness(?) of this piece and just making jokes or their own conversations about growing their own foods. Way to bring down the room when when we get the realities of Covid ELSEWHERE if we want.
Made yourself feel better? - What have You personally done or who have You loss? - Some of us have and don’t need to be reminded in every thread. - (Learn to read the room, for Christ’s sake!)
cleo
Ooer and golly gosh, bass admitting to breaking’ da lor!
kurisupisu
No potatoes?
Eat rice then!
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
Don't know who cooked those French fries in the photo .
Looks like crap.
bass4funk
They sure do. I do have to admit that my kids both love cold fries, they would eat that straight out of the fridge, cold and starchy.
proxy
Hmmmmmm. I am curious where they source their potatoes from. Do they only use 1 specific variety? Are their potatoes grown under contract?
Yrral
Zichi potatoes will last forever,if stored right,just bought a bag of tater tots,are you making some fish and chips
snowymountainhell
Just curious @Yrral 10:50p why ‘always’ zichi?
Johansawada
My favourite fries are made from Bintje potatoes... unfortunately, you can't get them here....
FizzBit
Didn’t this happen a while back with the spuds? Engineered crisis. I like the chicken but what is up with that coleslaw?
gakinotsukai
Also discovering their food supply rely on importation from foreign countries while the JA Group lobby tries to make them believe the opposite.
Peeping_Tom
Do those non-conservatives include the Road Haulage Association?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729"
Or this?!
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cnjH-6Qzkw"
Paul14
All fries in Japan are tasteless garbage. KFC's are amongst the worst.
theFu
KFC has fries? Are they out of mashed potatoes? I cannot remember ever getting fries at any KFC anywhere in the world.
McD's does an amazing job at their supply chain. Better than almost everyone else ... except perhaps H.E.B. Even Walmart runs out of stuff, but H.E.B. seems to have a crystal ball and "knows" what we want before we go shopping. For a long time, McDs didn't have tomatoes on anything because they couldn't find a supplier who could/would commit to the required amount. At the time, I had a sister that was a McDs storage manager.
The primary issue with McD's isn't supply, but mechanical issues - with their ice cream dispensers. There's actually a website dedicated to knowing if the ice cream machine is broken or not: https://mcbroken.com/
5-Guys is an expensive burger chain in the US. They post the actual potato farm and name of the farmer on their menu so you know where the potatoes came from. They almost always come from Idaho. Think I've only see one time where they came from somewhere else. The amount of fries they put in the bag is like 5 Lrg servings anywhere else. Get the Cajun fries and plan to share the half-pound burger with at least 1 other person. Idaho is quite beautiful and plain - just depends where you are in the state. I've only spent a few weeks there, but it was a nice trip. I suppose that could be said about most states ... except Kansas. It is just plains.
sf2k
why not just grow the potatoes in Japan? it's potatoes, varieties can grow anywhere
Yubaru
Order them with no salt, guaranteed to get fresh hot fries every time!
DrTOM1957
Potatoes are so cheap in the U.S. it's not worth the hassle of growing them yourself unless you want the red or purple flesh potatoes. $1.99 for 5lbs or 225 yen for 2.26 kilograms for Russets $2.99 for Yukon Golds.
When does Japan get potatoes from?
cleo
I don't grow spuds to save money. I go through the 'hassle' (actually I enjoy gardening and growing things, so it's not so much hassle as anticipation) of putting them in the ground and waiting months because no shop-bought spud can compare in taste with your own freshly-dug spuds.
Washed, boiled, lightly salted and dabbed with butter. Sheer heaven.
Money can't buy that taste sensation.
Different soils, different climates, you don't always get the same results. Better to choose the varieties that work where you are.