Fast food chain KFC has suffered a shortage of potatoes at its outlets in Kenya as deliveries from its overseas suppliers suffered delays. Chief Executive for East Africa, Jacques Theunissen, has stated that the shortage of chips was due to a hitch in the global supply of potatoes.
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,” Theunissen said.
This means that local farmers might see their product go to waste during harvesting seasons, despite shortages like this. It is 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.
Source: thecitizen.co.tz
