Marion Bay Tavern’s desperate measures amid potato shortage

It’s small fry stuff only now for one popular pub in an SA holiday hotspot after they were told to expect a key delivery to be cut short.

Savour your buckets – and bowls – of hot chips while you can because there is no guarantee they’ll stay on the menu amid ongoing potato shortages.

A pub in regional South Australia has been making plans to temporarily cease selling bowls of salted hot chips, to make sure there’s enough of the golden potato treat to serve with main meals.

Marion Bay Tavern manager Sarah Wescombe said the precautionary contingency plan was devised during the week when suppliers said they could only provide four of the 12 boxes of frozen chips ordered.

“We’re in our busiest time of the year,” Ms Wescombe said.

“When we were told we would only be getting (a third) of our order our thought was we’d have to stop serving bowls of chips, to save chips for meals … you can’t have a schnitty without chips.”

Charlie Dawson and Arjun Sareen with a bowl of chips and gravy pictured at the Goodwood Cricket Ground. Picture: Ben Clark

Ms Wescombe said after “much ringing around” several extra boxes were sourced from alternate suppliers, for the popular Yorke Peninsula venue.

“We haven’t been able to get potato wedges for about six or seven weeks, so they are currently off our menu … it is just a case of managing week to week,” she said.

“People’s reaction varies a lot … most people are pretty good when you explain it but some do get upset … they don’t think it is possible (not to have chips).”

A combination of local crops being affected by bad weather in the key growing period, international shortages and supply chain issues have been blamed for a national shortage of potatoes used for processing (frozen chips).

Marion Bay Tavern Marion Bay Tavern's Leila Wood with a schnitzel and cut down serve of chips. Picture: Supplied

Marion Bay Tavern on Yorke Peninsula. Picture: SATC

Some supermarkets have limited customers to two packets of frozen chips while a service station in north west regional Victoria has temporarily restricted its customers to one “small or medium” bucket of hot chips.

“Large, extra large and upwards will not be available due to shortages,” the post from Ouyen’s Heenan’s Roadhouse advises.

For now, it’s better news for the juniors at Goodwood Cricket Club who are savouring their favourite Friday night, after-training treat of chips and gravy – at $7, the cost has stayed the same for the past three seasons.

“(Here) the food isn’t about making money … the purpose is to create a good club environment where people want to stay at and socialise … for families to sit together after cricket training,” president Warwick Potts said, adding there were no immediate concerns around the sourcing of chips, served with all main meals.