Chips could become over a centimetre shorter as a result of this year’s dry weather.
The drought has not only affected potato crops in Sweden. Farmers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are now warning of significantly reduced harvests of the popular dietary staple.
That is likely to result in higher prices in supermarkets as well as a reduction in size of harvested produce.
Since Sweden imports the majority of the fried variety of potato from Belgium and the Netherlands, shorter fries are a likelihood in the Scandinavian country.
“They could go from six to 4.5 centimetres according to crop estimates and the information we have at the moment,” Anders Huldt, CEO of industry organisation Svensk Potatis, told TT.
A counterpart industry organisation in Belgium echoed those sentiments.
“Because the potatoes are smaller at the moment, we will all be eating smaller chips,” Pierre Lebrun, head of the Walloon Potato Growers' Association, told the Sudpresse newspaper.
Huldt added that it was still too early to say with certainty how much the length of fries would be affected.
The news is also unlikely to affect offerings at fast food restaurants in Sweden.
“We have no planned price increases on the agenda,” Henrik Nerell of McDonald’s Sweden’s communications department told TT.