War in Ukraine: barely redeemed, is the “Russian McDonald’s” already in difficulty?

by time news July 11, 2022

July 11, 2022

A burger chain… deprived of one of its star dishes. Born in June from the withdrawal of McDonald’s in Russia, the brand Vkousno i Totchka is already facing a shortage of french fries because of Western sanctions against Moscow, business news site RBK and Russian news agency Tass reported on Friday. 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 McDonald’s rushed to the opening of the new restaurants, so much so that Oleg Paroev, general manager of the new chain, was pleased to have sold 120,000 burgers that day. the.

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.

Limited offer. 2 months for 1€ without commitment

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.

L’application L’Express

To track analysis and decryption wherever you are

Download the app

Times are therefore looking a little more gloomy than at the launch for Vkousno i totchka. Supply difficulties 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 claimed to respect all the rules of storage and preparation of products and told RBK that he had contacted the manufacturer to clarify these accusations.