The potato supply chain is experiencing a shortage, and the Japanese branch of McDonald's has announced that between Christmas and the end of the year it will ration fries on its menus: in the week between December 24 and 31 (at least) the sale of large and medium portions of fries will be suspended.

This stems from the obvious impacts of the covid-19 pandemic and also stems from the flooding in Canada - a major supplier of this tuber to Japan, and the disruptions in the global supply chain, with excess demand and limits on container and freighter supply.

"Due to major flooding near the Port of Vancouver ... and the global supply chain crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there are delays in the supply of potatoes," the branch reported.

Japan is one of the fast-food company's largest markets outside the United States. In McDonald's 2,900 stores in Japan only small portions of fries will be sold, but on the other hand the menu prices will be slightly discounted.

This is an emergency plan to ensure "that the sale of potato French fries to customers is not interrupted," said a company spokesman.

McDonald's Japan has already announced that it will receive about 1,000 tons of potatoes by air - despite the increased costs, this will reduce the economic and reputational impact of running out of one of its most popular products during one of the strongest seasons for consumption in Japan.

Potato shortages are not new to Japan, nor are they just a consequence of the pandemic and the disruptions that covid-19 caused in the global commodity market. The most recent case happened in 2017, when a poor potato harvest nationwide - but in particular on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido - caused shortages in the supply of potato French fries. At the time, there was a rush to the supermarkets and many consumers did not hesitate to hoard potatoes.