A burger chain… deprived of one of its star dishes. Born in June from the withdrawal of McDonald’s in Russia, the brand Vkusno i Tochka is already facing a shortage of French fries because of Western sanctions against Moscow, reported Friday the RBK economic information site and the Russian news agency Tass. The situation should not be resolved until the fall. It’s a bad first pass for the “Russian McDonald’s”, with an offer almost identical to that offered by the American giant.
Fruit of the acquisition of 700 of the 850 American brands and all the available stocks by the Siberian investor Alexandre Govor, Vkousno i totchka had nevertheless announced a rapid start in Russia. On June 12, crowds of nostalgic visitors to the McDonald’s rushed to open the new restaurants, so much so that Oleg Paroïev, general manager of the new chain, was pleased to have sold 120,000 burgers that day.
The euphoria quickly subsided. In some restaurants Vkousno i totchka (in Russian: Delicious and point, Editor’s note), “there will be no more fries”, indicated the RBK site, citing the press service of the Russian group. According to the fast food chain, the 2021 harvest in Russia has been poor and “import from foreign markets (…) has become impossible due to Western sanctions put in place against Moscow”, due to the invasion of Ukraine.
The fry is a national issue, with Russia being one of the largest potato producers in the world. The Ministry of Agriculture therefore wanted to reassure: “The Russian market is fully supplied with potatoes, including processed potatoes. In addition, a new harvest is coming, which excludes the possibility of a shortage,” he said on his Telegram channel. Better still, he is counting on “an increase in the gross potato harvest”.
Supply difficulties and rotten burgers
Regardless of the ministerial communication, the Vkousno i totchka chain expects that some of its restaurants will not be able to serve fries until this fall, when the new harvest begins. Additional problem: other products are missing, such as Mc Cain fries or Coca-Cola drinks, two brands which also left Russia following Western sanctions.
Times are therefore looking a little more gloomy than at the launch for Vkousno i totchka. Supply difficulties have also delayed the opening of some restaurants in Belgorod and tver, according to local media. What’s more, many Internet users have relayed photos of stale, expired, rotten food or even containing insects. On this point, Vkousno i totchka affirmed to respect all the rules of storage and preparation of the products and indicated to RBK having contacted the manufacturer to clarify these accusations.