Yay, the “Prosperity Burger”, a regular fixture on McDonald’s Malaysia’s Chinese New Year menu, is back. But boo, it will not include the popular curly fries on the side this year due to labour strikes by American dockworkers. When the “Prosperity Burger” was launched a few days ago ahead of the Chinese New Year festivities, McDonald’s Malaysia also put up notices at its outlets advising customers curly fries won’t be served as part of the set meal.
This is because the shortage of french fries from the US is spreading. As such, the Malaysian franchise of McDonald’s has found that they also have to cut back on the potato side dish.
British paper The Independent reported today that Malaysia is among several Asian countries affected by the strikes, which have cut chip supply in the region.
If you think we’ve got it bad, well, McDonald’s Japan has found it so difficult to secure a steady supply of chips due to disrupted or cancelled shipments that even market-leading McDonald’s had to start rationing its servings last month. KFC Japan too has been scrambling to release its fries with coleslaw. The fast food chain released a statement to say:
The company will halt the sales of potatoes temporarily until a stable supply becomes available.
McDonald’s Malaysia’s crispy, twisting and thicker-than-normal fries have been an integral part of the “Prosperity Burger” meal, which also includes a pineapple pie. According to their promo video, the meal set is “22 years of Malaysian heritage”. So we can understand why the lack of curly fries this time around came as a shock to many.
Watch the promo video here:
In other new, KFC Malaysia senior vice-president Ling Mee Jiuan was quoted by The Rakyat Post as saying:
The shortage of imported potatoes caused by labour disputes at a port on the US West Coast indeed impacts the timeliness of supplies to Asian markets. Though not affected yet, KFC Malaysia will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate action, if any, as the situation progresses.
Meanwhile, the shoestring aka standard McDonald’s french fries are still available. For now.
Sources: MMO, The Rakyat Post, The Independent, KFC Japan.
