Covid 19 coronavirus: Some McDonald's restaurants may close due to critical ingredient shortages

Some McDonald's restaurants may have to close their doors due to shortage of vital ingredients.

The takeaway giant announced yesterday that it was facing a lettuce shortage due to the overwhelming demand from Kiwis on Tuesday, the first day of alert level 3.

More than 300,000 McDonald's burgers were devoured on the first day, nearly half - 145,000 - of those were Big Macs.

The busiest burger makers (alphabetically) were Andersons Bay in Dunedin, Frankton in Hamilton, Hastings, Lower Hutt, New Plymouth, Papakura, and Porirua.

The demand, coupled with the pressures of moving to alert level 3 on suppliers, could mean there were shortages of ingredients for menu items.

A Waikato McDonald's franchise owner has posted on Facebook about the impact of the stock limitations.

This statement posted by a Waikato McDonald's franchise owner states that some stores may have to close later today if they run out of stock.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

He said it was likely that store could close if its stock shortages continued today.

He was expecting another delivery at his two restaurants on Friday and would reopen "as soon as we can".

A McDonald's spokesman said "a couple" of restaurants did close on Tuesday and Wednesday when they ran out of "critical items".

"Lettuce is one example, where there is a 20-week lead time, and the consequence of the lockdown and the initial customer demand means some restaurants may run out temporarily.

"Our restaurants are resupplied several times a week, so we've communicated with customer explaining they may need to let us catch up. Almost everything we serve is sourced in New Zealand and our suppliers are doing everything they can to support us."

He said restaurants had contingencies in place for customers, including offering to make Big Macs or McChicken without lettuce if they chose.

As for which restaurants were the busiest on Wednesday, he said they were similar to the stores which ran rampant on Tuesday, namely (alphabetically) were Andersons Bay in Dunedin, Frankton in Hamilton, Hastings, Lower Hutt, New Plymouth, Papakura, and Porirua.