A shortage of potatoes from Hokkaido has meant that snack food makers Calbee Inc. and Koikeya Inc. have been forced to stop the sale of some of their potato chip brands.
The spud shortage from Japan's northernmost prefecture is attributable to a typhoon that hit the region in summer 2016. As a result, Calbee and Koikeya have struggled to secure enough potatoes to manufacture their full range of potato chip brands.
Calbee will stop the sale of 18 of its brands including its "French salad" flavored potato chips, following a final shipment on April 15. In addition, with regard to shipments after April 22, the company will temporarily halt the sale of 15 of its brands such as "pizza potato."
