Kenyans online were on Monday left baffled after Kentucky Fried Kitchen (KFC) ran out of potatoes to make their chips.
The well known fast food establishment, which works primarily in Nairobi and other large urban areas, reported on their web-based media platforms that the Christmas rush to get a hold of their products had left them without any chips.
“Fam it was truly a Furaha December. Mlikula sherehe with your KFC faves. Ya’ll loved our chips a little too much, and we’ve run out. Sorry! Our team is working hard to resolve the issue. In the meantime here are some SWAP options for combo meals if you are craving our Kuku,” they tweeted.
Numerous Kenyans wondered how a fast food chain like KFC can run out of chips, in a country that has an apparently endless supply of potatoes.
It turns out and unbeknown to numerous Kenyans, that KFC imports their potatoes.
While the nature and quality of their chicken fluctuates generally from one branch to another and surprisingly in similar branch from one day to another, one thing that most Kenyans have close to agreement on is that their chips are reliably top level.
Furthermore to guarantee that quality and consistency is kept up with, Kuku Foods East Africa – the local KFC franchise holder, sources their cut potatoes outside Kenya. At the point when they began operation here, the potatoes came from Egypt, yet it is hazy whether this is as yet the situation.
Obviously, no Kenyan producer of potatoes passes KFC’s thorough quality affirmation endorsement process. In such manner, Kuku Foods East Africa’s hands are tied, as KFC headquarters demand specific standards across all country, to keep up with quality and consistency internationally and ensure the standing of the brand.
“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.
Around 800,000 small scale Kenyan farmers produce potatoes, with the yield’s commitment to the Kenyan economy valued at about Sh50 billion. It is said that business visionaries and government legislatures in potato producing locales like Nyandarua have done essentially nothing to modernize the handling.
Back the to shortage, Kuku Foods CEO Jacques Theunissen let Business Daily know that a hitch in the worldwide stock of potatoes prompted the present circumstance, yet it is being tended to in no time.
“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 (Tuesday),” said Mr Theunissen.
For the duration of the deficiency, KFC has added ugali to their menu. It is not clear whether this is the equivalent breaded and seared ugali pieces they stopped a few years back, or the old Kenyan ugali.
