# Venezuela’s McDonald's has stopped selling Big Macs  **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635 "2016-07-22T23:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/41 "2016-07-27T07:58:14Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Why don’t you just drop off some chicken skins and lobster shells? Well, they’re perfectly edible. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/42 "2016-07-27T12:37:24Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > t why they don’t just use McDonalds China french fries or McDonalds Korea french fries is a mystery to me. Mcdonalds has _VERY_ precise standards for their french fries. They are tested in a food lab and must meet certain definitions:Things like how much oil they absorb at X temperature for Y minutes; How much the weight changes before and after frying, how long an individual fry can stand up vertically, unsupported, before becoming limp, etc. When McD’s decided to open in Israel 20 years ago, there was a huge fight with the local Israeli potato farmers and the Department of Agriculture . The farmers had a monopoly which had been enforced for years by the goverment with a law prohibiting the import of potatoes, so that the local farmers could make more money. McDonald’s proclaimed that Israeli potatoes did not meet their requirements as measured in food lab tests. They refused to open in Israel unless the government changed the law to allow imports. McDonald’s won. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/43 "2016-07-27T13:41:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I thought Fast Food franchises used a sophisticated distribution network just like Walmart or any other global conglomerate. I’ve seen Tractor trailers unloading supplies at McDonald’s. They do, but “sophisticated” doesn’t have to mean “everything gets shipped halfway across the globe”. Sometimes it’s a matter of figuring out what should be getting shipped from the other end of the world and what should be made next door. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/44 "2016-07-27T13:54:25Z")
Surprised that the Venezuelan government hasn’t taken over the local McDonalds there. Two different subsidiaries of ours have had local manufacturing operations nationalized in the last year in Venezuela. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/45 "2016-07-27T15:49:21Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > They still ship the ice for the drinks from the US, though, right? I mean, what if there’s a power cut and they can’t make their own? They _can’t_ make their own. The McDonald’s ice recipe is proprietary. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/46 "2016-07-27T20:58:40Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Is there any evidence, whatsoever, that McDonald’s trucks in food from Winnetka? I’m not even going to _try_ to explain the concept of “a joke” to someone like you. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/47 "2016-07-27T21:15:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m not even going to _try_ to explain the concept of “a joke” to someone like you. Your “joke”, such as it is, was a complete failure, since McDonald’s isn’t headquartered in Winnetka. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/48 "2016-07-27T21:31:33Z")
:smack: (That, too, is a joke.)(Someone want to waste a day and a half and try to explain this to what’s-his-face here? I have to de-fur my wombat.) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/49 "2016-07-27T22:12:47Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Your “joke”, such as it is, was a complete failure, since McDonald’s isn’t headquartered in Winnetka. I can’t tell if you’re making another joke by pretending not to get the joke… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/50 "2016-07-27T22:16:23Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > I can’t tell if you’re making another joke by pretending not to get the joke… Where is the humor in confusing Winnetka with Oakbrook? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/51 "2016-07-28T05:59:19Z")
He didn’t, he pulled Winnetka out of a map he keeps in his left elbow. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/52 "2016-07-28T14:59:59Z")
So I gather from this thread that our Freedom Athletes at the Olympics won’t be able to practice their human right of having a Big Mac? And we aren’t at war with them because? Thanks Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/53 "2016-07-28T17:41:59Z")
Did they move the Olympics to Venezuela? I knew Rio wasn’t shaping up, must have missed the change of countries. In other news, there’s a chronic food shortage in Venezuela. Not just Big Macs. The Chavez government set the price that bakeries could sell bread. The cost to make bread is higher than they can charge for it. Big Macs are pretty far down on the list, I’d imagine. > **[It costs $150 to buy a dozen eggs in Venezuela right now](https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-venezuela-inflation-0531-snap-htmlstory.html)** > > The International Monetary Fund has predicted that inflation in Venezuela will hit 720% this year. > **['We want food!': Venezuela's crisis deepens](https://theworld.org/stories/2016-05-19/we-want-food-venezuelas-crisis-deepens)** > > Many frustrated Venezuelans blame the government for the hardship they are enduring. > **[Up to 50 animals 'starve to death' at Venezuelan zoo as crippling economic...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/28/animals-in-venezuelan-zoo-starve-to-death/)** > > Some 50 animals have starved to death in the last six months at one of Venezuela's main zoos, according to a union leader. > **[Venezuelans storming supermarkets, attacking trucks as food supplies dwindle](https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-venezuela-food-shortage-20160628-story.html)** > > The fight for food has begun in Venezuela. On any day, in cities across this increasingly desperate nation, crowds sack supermarkets or take to the streets. > **[Venezuela food shortage: Family liquidates savings to stockpile food](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela-food-shortage-family-liquidates-savings-to-stockpile-food/)** > > More than 100,000 Venezuelans are trudging across what Colombian officials are calling a "humanitarian corridor" to buy as many basic goods as possible > **[Venezuelans Struggling To Keep Fridges Stocked As Economy Suffers](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/venezuela-food-shortages_n_5720fd11e4b0b49df6a9e03d)** > > "It makes a person want to cry." ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/54 "2016-07-28T18:02:29Z")
Last I heard, maybe last fall, was an order of fries costing close to $200, and a burger even more. Is that still the case? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/55 "2016-07-28T18:18:22Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Last I heard, maybe last fall, was an order of fries costing close to $200, and a burger even more. Is that still the case? Check the first link in my post above, $150 for a dozen eggs. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/56 "2016-07-28T19:24:12Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Last I heard, maybe last fall, was an order of fries costing close to $200, and a burger even more. Is that still the case? McDonald fries are really good, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635/57 "2016-07-28T21:59:14Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Last I heard, maybe last fall, was an order of fries costing close to $200, and a burger even more. Is that still the case? That’s a bit of a misleading figure. It comes from converting the price in Bolivars to US Dollars using the “official” exchange rate which was widely acknowledged as a piece of fiction. Using the black market exchange rate, it costs about the same as a burger anywhere else. The problem is, if you use the black market exchange rate, the average Venezuelan is making something like $200 USD a month. If you’re a Venezuelan with access to hard currency income, life is actually pretty good right now. In the richer neighbourhoods of Caracas, grocery stores are amply stocked with imported cheeses, wines and every sort of first world country good. However, if your income is denominated in Bolivars, and especially if you have a government position with a fixed income, then you’re forced to rely on ever increasingly scarce subsidized food as food on the open market is out of reach expensive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venezuela-s-mcdonalds-has-stopped-selling-big-macs/760635.md?page=2)