Japan's new crisis: A McDonald's fries shortage

Japan's economy may be sliding into a deeper-than-expected recession, but Japanese fast-food aficionados have more pressing matters to deal with.

McDonald's (MCD) says due to shortages brought on by a trans-Pacific labor dispute, it will currently sell only small-size portions of its famous french fries in Japan.

"This is a measure we've decided to take because we might run out of fries," a company official told Japan's Kyodo news agency. "We apologize to customers for the inconvenience."

According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, all french fries sold at McDonald's outlets in Japan are produced in the U.S., with about 10,000 tons of American spuds imported from the U.S. West Coast each month.

But an ongoing labor dispute at U.S. West Coast container ports has brought many of those shipments to a virtual standstill.

So, the fast-food giant is relying on some emergency logistics to get those U.S. potatoes to Japan. Ashai Shimbun reports McDonald's is airlifting more than 1,000 tons of frozen french fries with another 1,600 tons being shipped from U.S. East Coast ports, expected to arrive in Japan by late next month.

This isn't small potatoes, economically. With over 3,000 Mickey D's in Japan, the country is McDonald's largest market outside of the U.S. And according to the U.S. Potato Board, total exports of American potatoes between July 2013 and June of this year were valued at $1.7 billion.

And last year, "the export of U.S. frozen fries to Japan was valued $336 million, which is 20 percent of total exports," John Toaspern, the Potato Board's chief marketing officer, told CBS MoneyWatch.

"These lost sales will not be recouped, because the demand is now, particularly with the holidays upon us," he added. "We won't be able to ship more later, because the season will be over."

Toaspern noted that not only are Japanese restaurants rationing the amount of fries they can serve, "they are also substituting with product from other sources, and there is no guarantee that these establishments will switch back to U.S. product."