Coalition of Franchisee Associations

November 29, 2020

Can't Fake Meat

McDonald's November news has been dominated by the announcement of "McPlant",  the latest fake-meat venture.

For me, this is a bit of deja-vu. There are similarities to the introduction and roll-out of McCafe in 2008/2009.

First, McCafe was sold to Wall Street long before the actual "testing" even began. The test was not a test but a publicity stunt. The outcome of the McCafe test was predetermined.

Secondly, McCafe was sold as a "Starbucks Killer" and the world outside of McDonald's assumed that McDonald's could duplicate Starbucks drinks and sell them for one-half the price. Today the publicity generated by the fake-meat manufacturers and chains already selling fake products has convinced the mainstream press and some in the QSR industry that the world is clamoring for fake-meat.

The chain that's gotten the most buzz is Burger King with the Impossible Whopper. In truth, Burger King is doing very poorly and domestic same-store sales are flat or down while other major burger chains are trending up nicely. It would be impossible to make the case that the Impossible Whopper is doing anything for Burger King. 

Nonetheless, reporter after reporter is writing that McDonald's is "behind" Burger King in serving fake-meat.

Outside of the Owner/Operator capital investment, the biggest risk in venturing into a new product category is the waste of precious advertising dollars. McDonald's management assumes the power of OPNAD can sell anything. So does Wall Street. McCafe proved that to be wrong - OPNAD spent millions and sales went down.

Most McDonald's Owner/Operators are eager to upgrade their chicken lineup next year. I've never heard from an Owner/Operator who wants to invest in or serve fake meat products.

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November 19, 2020

Scores of Stores on the Block

Now that big restaurant companies no longer want to be in the restaurant business 
it's harder and harder to sell large groups of franchised restaurants.

Wendy’s makes a bid for bankrupt NPC International’s restaurants

November 13, 2020

New CEO Single-Handedly Saves McDonald's

Maybe it's because their ancestors were ruled by kings and queens but European journalists generally treat big company CEOs like royalty. They love publishing glowing articles, even 
about mediocre executives.

When the U.K.'s Steve Easterbrook was promoted to CEO of McDonald's it was bigger news 
than the D-Day landing at Normandy.

Schumpeter - Takeaways from McDonald’s remarkable comeback -| The Economist

November 9, 2020

The McDonald's System Invented Diversity

McDonald's veterans are universally proud of the system's track record on diversity and inclusion dating back to the 1960s. So most of these "McVets" are disappointed to see 
headlines and news articles such as the one below.

I don't have any internal insight but from 30,000 feet it's apparent that the new McDonald's 
CEO is attempting to make the case that he was handed a company rife with racism and he intends to bring in people who will fix the problem. He alone will valiantly expunge the Klansmen from McDonald's.

But any examination of the current problems will show that the complaints are about events 
that occurred during the Easterbrook/Chris K. regime.

Downsizing a company is a messy business and if not done properly it leaves a trail of angry 
and disappointed people. That's the work product of the past five years.

Steve Easterbrook couldn't have understood the culture of diversity in McDonald's USA 
because he spent his McDonald's career in Europe. Chris K. couldn't understand the culture 
of diversity in McDonald's USA because his business "knowledge" comes from sitting in the classrooms of liberal colleges. Then he rode around in corporate limousines for a few years 
before becoming President of McDonald's USA.

Not knowing what they didn't know management steamrolled ahead thinking they were making McDonald's Modern and Progressive.

As usual, in a franchise system, everything rolls downhill. McDonald's Owner/Operators can expect that they will be lectured and talked down to about these issues. And, ultimately, McDonald's Owner/Operators will be blamed for the problems. 

It's nice that these new folks have these good jobs but they will soon learn that the root of the problems they were brought on to address is the person who hired them.