“Floods and poor growing conditions across the eastern seaboard resulted in a less than ideal harvest of potatoes, particularly those used to make packet chips or crisps,” the spokesperson said.
Wet weather and fewer potato imports in 2022 resulted in empty frozen chip shelves in supermarkets across the country and trying times for fish and chips shops, but growers say the current potato harvest should quell the short-term demand.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of a 16-ounce bag of potato chips has increased from $5.04 to $5.49. Yahoo! News says the soaring price of cooking oils is one of the reasons potato chips are more expensive.
Why is there a potato shortage? Due to the cold climate and frost, potatoes are not growing the way that they're meant to as they're producing extra sugar. Because of this, only 50% of farmer's potatoes are sellable and this is likely to be the case until mid 2023.
Wet weather, increased production costs, and restrictions on international imports last year led to a widespread shortage of potato products in supermarkets and takeaway shops across the country.
Delays in manufacturing and logistics difficulties in China due to COVID lockdowns are one of the primary drivers of the chip shortage.
"The global demand for potatoes is increasing while plantings are stable and decreasing in some countries. Especially, demand for processed potatoes and French fries keeps increasing year after year, and prices are reaching record levels in 2023."
An executive at Maruti Suzuki India has said that they expect a recovery in chip shortages in the second quarter of 2023. The ongoing chip shortage, which affected the company's April production, will continue throughout May and June, the executive said.
While the COVID-19 pandemic was the initial catalyst for the chip shortage, structural factors were also part of the picture. Fundamentally, the auto industry is changing, with a major shift toward automation and electric vehicles. These require yet more chips, causing further strain on an already stretched industry.
Under the Marketing of Potatoes Act 1946, it was illegal for anyone to sell, purchase, take delivery of and deliver more than 50kg of everybody's favourite tuber.
In 2021-2022, Lay's was by far the most popular potato chip brand in America. It represented over 41% of the market for potato chips. Ruffles and Pringles, with respective market shares of 18% and 13%, were the next two leading competitors. In addition to PepsiCo, Inc.
Doritos is the most popular chip brand in America. They're produced by Frito-Lay.
Our heritage is the heart of our identity at Smith's Chips Australia. Since 1931, almost every type of Smith's snack has been manufactured in factories on Australian soil.
Definition. In Australia, chips can refer to 'hot' chips; fried strips of potato. Chips also refer to what are known in other countries as crisps.
Australia's nascent semiconductor industry offers an alternative capacity to secure 'trailing edge' technologies and compound chips, as opposed to the advanced silicon chips that the US specialises in.
The global chip shortage could be over by 2024—that's the best-case scenario. However, it could take longer than that to be resolved. On the bright side, electric vehicle production is expected to increase significantly over the next few months despite the global chip shortage.
Despite some recent assurances the chip shortage will ease in 2022, a new global survey of engineers believes the worst it yet to come with longer lead times and higher prices looming over the next 18 months.
2020–present global chip shortage
In 2021, the pandemic's impact on the manufacture of semiconductors in South Korea and Taiwan was cited as a cause for the shortage, with constrained supply impacting industries as broad as console gaming and the automotive industry.
You can point to several reasons for that: carmakers lowered their hardware orders at the start of the pandemic, with the assumption that consumers wouldn't be interested in buying new vehicles. It turns out the opposite was true – the overwhelming demand has pushed used car prices up significantly.
Computer chips are typically manufactured in factories called fabrication plants or fabs. They are made from silicon, a common chemical element found in sand. Silicon is a semiconductor, which means its electrical conductivity falls somewhere between metals like copper and insulators like glass.
US potato production in 2021 was 7% below the five-year average. Severe drought, as seen with Gro's Climate Risk Navigator application, resulted in the worst potato yields in years in several states including Washington, North Dakota, and No. 1 producer Idaho, where year-over-year yields fell 9%.
According to the fast-food chain, there was a poor harvest of the kind of potatoes needed to make French Fries and that has resulted in the shortage.