Coalition of Franchisee Associations

March 31, 2018

Union Behind The 'Fight For $15' Cuts Funding For Fast-Food Campaign

"But for all its successes, the movement has not translated into more dues-paying union members for the SEIU"

Reporting by the very liberal Huffington Post
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Less Clowning Around - Even For Ronald

"Then McDonald’s terminated its regional Ronald McDonald program at the end of last year, though it’s vague about the reasons for the move. “Ronald remains an important part of our brand and he will continue to appear at local events,” said a McDonald’s spokeswoman. “We are just moving to a centralized program.”

Doesn't that apply to everything happening in McDonald's USA?

It’s the worst time in history to be a clown — they just want you to love them again
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March 29, 2018

McDelivery Risks

"Olive Garden agrees that the equation doesn't work. "We're not willing to give up 
20% to 25% just to get a sale," Darden Restaurants (DRI) CEO Gene Lee said in 
January."

Why Uber Eats and GrubHub partnerships are risky for restaurants - CNNMoney
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March 28, 2018

Tim Hortons Franchisees Kicking Butt and Taking Names


"This is just one more in the string of ill-conceived programs brought forward by a group of executives who do not understand foodservice, franchise operations or marketing," 

Gosh, that sounds familiar.


Tim Hortons and franchisees clash over 'ill-conceived' $700M renovation plan
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March 27, 2018

Ghost Restaurants Might Have an Afterlife

A Ghost Restaurant is a kitchen located in an obscure place that feeds the delivery stream 
for that brand. The ghost restaurants I've read about are one-off new brands in big cities.

But it's got to be difficult to scale an operation that customers have not heard of and can't 
visit. Web sites and brochures in hotels will only take them so far.

But what about an established national brand with universal name recognition?

It could work like this - a franchised restaurant chain launches a delivery program using an outside food delivery service. The company sets things up in such a way that their franchisees absorb all the costs and of course do all the work. Eventually this establishes which markets will be high volume delivery markets. 

The company then establishes "Ghost Kitchens" in the middle of the best delivery markets.

The build out is simple - a modern kitchen layout in a warehouse or in the basement of a building. The most important location requirement would be easy in/out for the delivery vehicles.

No drive-thru, no dining room, no sign package, no crew uniforms, just a kitchen. They probably wouldn't even need a POS.

Once the kitchen is ready the franchise company gives the delivery company a list of zip 
codes where all deliveries will be routed to the new company operated kitchen.

What about the industry wide movement away from company operated restaurants? This
is something different. It's the restaurant business reduced to it's simplest form. It should 
be extremely easy to run and very efficient (even a McOpCo manager could run it). If it 
does a decent volume with free standing restaurant menu prices it could be very profitable.

No need for franchising. The capital outlay would be small, and again, the operation would
be simple.

The above speculation assumes the delivery business will be huge for QSR restaurants. 
That's still doubtful. With nearly all restaurants getting into delivery the sales are going to 
be spread so thin that individual restaurants will not profit from delivery.

Food delivery services make way for Baltimore's first 'ghost kitchens' - Baltimore Sun
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March 22, 2018

How Much Will McDonald's Operators Pay for Fake Science?

Click to enlarge
"In other words, pretty much the entirety of the 20th century warming in the U.S. “measured” by the world’s primary temperature record gatekeeper may be fake."

Nat Oceanic Atmospheric Admin Data Tampering - 'Science Doesn't Get Any Worse Than This'
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Flawless QSC Pays Off

Remember when the left set out to destroy Chick-fil-A over gay marriage?

When it comes to reputation, Chick-fil-A is king
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March 20, 2018

Fake News About Fake Science

With all the challenges McDonald's 
faces in the future - this politically 
correct  garbage will keep the system 
from growing.

And bringing in Obama's anti-business henchmen will only distract from the 
real world of sales and profits. >>>>>

Maybe they'll have Al Gore address 
the Orlando convention?

On the menu for McDonald’s: Cut greenhouse gas emissions - AP
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March 17, 2018

Franchisees Push Back

Amid industry challenges, franchisees get serious about protecting their profits
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The NLRB Saga Goes On


Sen. Elizabeth Warren is all in with destroying the USA franchise industry yet, if she ever runs for POTUS,  a 
large number of McDonald's corporate employees and executives will gleefully support her. And the Operator 
PAC will send her money.



Labor Board Scrambles to Avoid Pro-Worker Ruling, Lawyers Claim - Bloomberg
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March 14, 2018

McDonald's Accountant Talks Operations and Marketing

On Wednesday McDonald's CFO presented at a Bank of America Conference. This comment 
appears to be gibberish. Is this some kind of McNewSpeak? 

I understand incremental sales, I understand break-evens and contributions margins.

"And so on a margin percentage basis, the franchisees get a lower margin percentage on 
this sale than they do if someone came to the front counter because the added cost is this commission. But in terms of additional dollars, the fact that 70% incremental is giving 
them clearly more dollars and our breakeven, if you will, incrementality is substantially 
below 50%. So there's a lot of room, let's say before we get anywhere close to breakeven 
from an incrementality standpoint."

Here's a transcript of the presentation:

McDonald's Management Presents at Bank of America Consumer - Seeking Alpha
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March 13, 2018

McDonald's USA Increasingly Complex Operations

McDonald’s Tech Features Are Pushing Human Workers Out the Door - Bloomberg
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McDonald's to Make Quick Changes to Value Menu - RBC

Analyst David Palmer is out with expanded comments on the McDonald's value platform.
Here's an excerpt from his report.

"So what now for McDonald’s? In our view, McDonald’s will likely stay committed to the
$1, $2, $3 menu with some other marketing adjustments that will be supported by its 
made-to-order fresh beef burger launch. While value remains a key pillar in the US 
turnaround—there are others including ongoing food upgrades, a massive reimaging 
campaign, and improving convenience (mobile order and delivery). McDonald’s is asking
for significant investments and has a new grading system that is designed to bolster in-restaurant execution, which may result in fewer, better franchisees in the system."

Trouble is, the people deciding on who's a "better franchisee" know very little about what 
it takes to be successful in McDonald's.

McDonald's (MCD) Expected to Make Quick Changes to Value Menu - RBC
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March 6, 2018

Unfrozen Ten to One is Inevitable

Oak Brook has handed Wendy's a marketing hook for the rest of the year (or longer).
Wendy's has McDonald's by the apron strings and they are not going to let go.

McDonald's USA will have no choice but to move to all unfrozen beef.

Beyond this article McDonald's Operators should view the Wendy's Twitter feed for
the complete thread. I think it'll make you nervous. 

Wendy's slams McDonald's in fresh-beef burger battle - Business Insider

The Wendy's Twitter account is at Twitter.com/Wendys
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Unfrozen QPCs

USA Pres. - “Over the past two years, we have been listening to our customers and evolving our business to build a better McDonald’s."

Says a guy who knows nothing about running a real McDonald's.

McDonald’s Starts Rollout of Fresh Beef Quarter-Pound Burgers, Cooked Right When Ordered, to U.S. Restaurants
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March 3, 2018

McDonald’s Canada Crops the Golden Arches

I have a good friend in the outdoor sign business. His only complaint is that his clients often want far too much information on their billboards. Even with that my first impression was 
that this sign concept was too simple. But, after looking at all the different iterations I think it's very clever and just the McDonald's colors will do the job, at least for directional billboards.

McDonald’s Crops the Golden Arches to Direct You to the Closest Restaurant – Adweek