Russian McDonald's to stop using Polish potatoes

Russia Today reported that McDonald's restaurants in Russia are searching for domestic farmers to grow potatoes to substitute current imports coming from Poland. A McDonald's press office worker, who announced the news, gave no explanation on how the raw materials would be substituted in Russia. Previously,  McDonald's imported frozen fries from Farm Frites and McCain; both companies are based in Poland. However, a potato surplus of one million tons this year in Russia has led to the price of potatoes falling by 40 percent, according to Sergey Korolev, president of the National Vegetables Union. This means that using domestic potatoes has become "two to three times cheaper than importing", explaining McDonald's business decision.