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The French fries ran out at KFC in Kenya
Photo: Gordwin Odhiambo / DER SPIEGEL
The chairs are carefully drawn towards the small tables, nobody is sitting on them.
No traces of fallen fries on the floor, as is usually the case in this large Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) branch in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.
There are no more fries.
Five customers are waiting at the order counter to be served.
They order chicken parts and cola, but they are not happy.
“We come here a lot for the fries.
They're cheap and ok, and I was hoping they'd finally have some again.
But now I'm going empty-handed again, ”annoyed a woman in line.
The employees have been putting off their customers for days.
As a substitute, they offer them traditional Kenyan corn polenta, among other things.
But nobody goes to a fast food restaurant for that.
“There's hardly anything going on this week.
Most of them come to us for the fries, but we still have no more supplies.
I hope a solution can be found quickly, «says one salesperson.
Since the beginning of the week, all of Kenya has been talking about the French fries gate.
The hashtag #boycottKFC was trending on Twitter for days, while KFC was boycotting.
However, the stumbling block is not the anger over a life without fried potato strips, but the cause of the bottleneck: Imports stall, the frozen potato pieces are stuck in container ships.
Many Kenyans can hardly believe that their fries have to take this route at all - instead of using local potatoes, KFC imports the fries from abroad, frozen.
Among other things from Egypt.
"KFC should pack up and run away so that local companies can take over," complains Twitter user Njonjo Ndehi.
"Kenyans shouldn't eat there anymore because they don't support our local farmers," posted another.
There are hundreds of such tweets.
But why can't the American fast food chain just get potatoes locally? Kenya is a growing nation, the popular nightshade family can be bought on every street corner. Avalanche traders deep-fry them on site in every imaginable form, there can be no question of a shortage.
At the beginning of the week, KFC justified itself to local media as follows: “We cannot currently purchase locally because all suppliers have to go through the global quality assurance process. We can't get around that. ”But the fast food chain has been in the country for ten years now. Why it was not possible to test and certify suppliers on site during this time - the American company is silent on SPIEGEL's request. A spokeswoman only announced that they were currently in the process of identifying local sources of supply.
The branch association of potato farmers in Kenya also finds a late insight.
“In any case, KFC never approached us to identify local farmers.
Nobody will produce anything for you if you don't ask for it «, criticizes chairman Wachira Kaguongo.
Especially since other chains like the African fast food company Chicken Inn rely on local products.
Nevertheless, Kaguongo is happy about the debate that has now sparked: "This will help the local potato industry to flourish." KFC had already asked him for an appointment.
There is movement in the matter.
The competition meanwhile rubs their hands maliciously - and takes advantage of the heated debate.
Rivals like Burger King post on Instagram: "We have enough fries for everyone".
Politicians have also jumped on the potato train. The governor of the country's largest growing region promptly issued a press release in which he proudly listed the measures his office had taken to support local potato farmers. "The French fries shortage gives us the opportunity to reflect on the plight of the farmers in our country," the politician announced and called on KFC to hold talks.
In the Kenyan media, agricultural experts assume that there is a very banal reason for importing the French fries: shipping from industrialized countries is simply cheaper than growing it locally.
A discussion that is not new on the continent: For years, for example, frozen chicken parts from Europe have flooded the African markets, and thanks to mass production and subsidies, the products are unrivaled in terms of price.
Local dealers, on the other hand, have no chance.
And so the debate about French fries in Kenya also revolves around a fundamental question: Can agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa even compete on the world market?
And if so, how?
Kathambi Kaaria has had very own experiences with this. When KFC wanted to come to the country about ten years ago, she sensed her great opportunity. The agricultural expert and entrepreneur wanted to deliver potatoes to the franchise chain herself. But she quickly noticed that nothing would come of it. “The main focus of the discussions was the question of how a traceable supply chain can be set up - right down to the seed from which the potato grows. We would have had to set up a new system with KFC, ”she says. But that is usually more expensive than importing from abroad.
But a lot has happened in Kenya and other African countries in the past ten years. Numerous programs, often with support from the Global North, have invested in quality standards in agriculture, including in the potato sector. But so far, smallholders in particular have been the mainstay of the agricultural economy - industrial standards are more difficult to meet for them, and not every potato is the same as the other. But at chains like KFC, the fries in Nairobi should taste and look exactly the same as in Bangladesh.
In addition, many farmers prefer locally popular varieties rather than the special types of potatoes that are in demand by fast food chains. So the situation is more complex than a few angry tweets suggest. Nevertheless, at the end of the day there is the question of how regional supply chains should be, what responsibility companies have and how southern Africa can generate a large part of the added value locally.
"I'm a little amazed that ten years later we're still dealing with the same topic," says agricultural expert Kaaria.
“But richer countries have farm-to-pan infrastructure that just makes it cheaper.
You can't necessarily blame a private company like KFC for looking at the price.
It is the government's job to make our agriculture competitive, ”demands Kaaria.
A french fries shortage in a fast food restaurant is probably the perfect occasion for this.
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