Supply chain chaos sparks fried chicken shortage at Japan stores

[TOKYO] As Americans celebrated Thanksgiving with turkey prices at record highs, another poultry dish that's a beloved holiday tradition could be in short supply: fried chicken in Japan.

Convenience stores in Japan like 7-Eleven and FamilyMart are running low on fried chicken for their holiday platters due to plant closures in Thailand, one of the world's major chicken producers, following a spike in coronavirus cases there in previous months.

7-Eleven has suspended fried chicken sales since the end of September in some parts of Japan due to supply disruptions in Thailand, said a spokeswoman for Seven & i Holdings, which operates the chain in Japan.

The company cannot yet foresee full resumption of supplies despite efforts to ameliorate the shortage, she added.

FamilyMart did not respond to a request for comment.

Some consumers took to social media to lament how hard it is to find their favorite convenience store fried chicken, including FamilyMart's signature Famichiki.

A few users shared store notices saying that Famichiki chicken is in short supply due to a lack of output from the country of production, and asked customers to "please wait a little longer."

Every Christmas, millions of Japanese treat themselves to a meal of fried chicken in what has become a nationwide tradition.

A popular option is getting buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, which says that sales are highest on Christmas Eve - about 10 times busier than KFC Japan's annual average.

A spokesman for KFC Japan said the company has been preparing for Christmas for a year, and that it "is not seeing any impact on supply or price" as it sources from domestic chicken farms.

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