Sweet potato supplies fried
Cairns cafes and restaurants have been hard hit by a sweet potato shortage sweeping the country.
Sweet potato chips are widely perceived as healthier than those made from the traditional spud and have proven popular at inner-city fish and chippery Frydays.
But the tasty tuber has been off the menu for the past two months after frozen foods company McCain’s national stocks were eaten up.
“We have a lot of regular customers that haven’t come back for a while,” said Frydays manager Charley Eparaima (above).
CAIRNS cafes and restaurants have been hard hit by a sweet potato shortage sweeping the country.
Sweet potato chips are widely perceived as healthier than those made from the traditional spud and have proven popular at inner-city fish and chippery Frydays.
But the tasty tuber has been off the menu for the past two months after frozen foods company McCain’s national stocks were eaten up.
“We have a lot of regular customers that haven’t come back for a while,” said Frydays manager Charley Eparaima. “A few of our main meals are supplied with sweet potato fries so we’ve had to offer normal chips or salad instead.
“It’s just inconvenient for us, especially because we have a set menu, and having to tell the customer we don’t have that available, is affecting us quite a lot.”
Ms Eparaima hoped sweet potato fries would be back on the menu next week.
It’s not the first time Frydays has been left short with McCain also unable to meet demand in 2015.
At The Pier Bar, patrons devour 320kg of sweet potato fries every week but could soon go hungry.
“We’re pretty short. We had a big order come in during Christmas week and we’re down to our last bit now, so we’ll be out until Tuesday,” head chef David Middlemore said yesterday.
“I think people will understand that over the Christmas period it’s a bit busy. Hopefully it’s only going to be a day that we will be out.”
Consumers can still get their hands on fresh sweet potatoes with local farmers continuing to supply markets and stores, despite recent rainfall hampering fieldwork. Sweet potatoes are a growing industry on the Tablelands and were worth $5.6 million in 2015.
“There was a period about six weeks ago when I was short, I was waiting on a certain patch to finish filling out while it was hot and dry,” said Kairi organic farmer Simon Godfrey.
Mr Godfrey supplies the local market as well as capital cities and invited restaurateurs to fill the shortfall with fresh, organic produce.