Former McDonald’s shops reopened in Russia last month under new management and branding, but the heir to the golden arches kingdom is facing a scarcity of French fries.
McDonald’s exited Russia in May following a Western response over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, which included a slew of economic penalties, and sold all of its locations to a local licensee.
The new ownership, on the other hand, is having trouble getting potato supplies, blaming a bad crop in Russia and difficulty importing potatoes owing to supply chain interruptions.
The restaurants reopened on June 12 under the new moniker Vkusno & tochka, or “Tasty and that’s it,” and sold about 120,000 burgers that day.
However, after customers began uploading images of menus lacking French fries last week, Vkusno & tochka said that fries and potato wedges will be removed from the menus of certain of the newly launched restaurants until autumn.