KFC runs out of imported potatoes for chips, snubs local farmers

Fast food chain KFC has suffered a shortage of potatoes at its outlets in Kenya following delays in delivery from its overseas suppliers, forcing it to offer customers alternative food items in place of French fries.

The firm’s Chief Executive for East Africa Jacques Theunissen told the Business Daily Monday that the shortage of chips, as they are commonly known, was due to a hitch in global supply of potatoes.

“It has to do with delays in shipping lines due to the Covid situation. Ships have been delayed for more than a month now, but we are working hard to restore as the first containers are arriving in the port tomorrow (today),” said Mr Theunissen.

KFC, which operates locally through franchisee Kuku Foods East Africa, does not source potatoes locally on global quality standards.

The firm added that it cannot bypass the approval procedures to allow local farmers to supply to fill in the gap.

“The reason we cannot buy local at the moment is all suppliers need to go through the global QA approval process and we cannot bypass that even if we run out to ensure that our food is safe for consumption by our customers,” he said.

This is set to deny local farmers whose product goes to waste during harvesting seasons the chance to reap from the lucrative tenders, especially during shortages like this. It is also not clear why it has taken the company more than 10 years to vet local farmers or support value chain to meet its standards like the case with other multinationals.

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