Monday was spent discussing "price fixing". That's not a term franchisees should toss around. I spent some time fiddling with other ways to describe what's going on in McDonald's, using terms like "price dictation." Better, but not adequate. Leave it to our favorite wordsmith, Jonathan Maze, to find the right word. He used "Oversight". Of course, as a journalist, he can't accuse anyone of price fixing, so he needed another term. "Price Fixing" implies that you are accusing someone of unlawful behavior and that you might be considering legal action. That makes communication difficult.
"Pricing Oversight" means all parties are studying the issue without making
accusations. Franchisees can always use the term "Price Fixing" later.
9 comments:
If you have read the latest franchising edict issued a few days ago and scheduled to go into effect, without discussion, negotiation or adequate warning , on Jan 1, 2026. It CLEARLY ties pricing into franchising standards. This is the closest we have ever come to being forced to set prices set by corporate (price fixing). It is sure to be strenuously applied, especially to operators who dare to challenge the company in any fashion. Will any operator group dare to challenge it? The lemmings at NFLA and OPNAD obviously will not.
I would love to see a respected Franchise lawyer (Zarco?? Caruso??) weigh in on this. The company overreach has reached a new high with its new 2026 Franchise requirements and Standards.. We are being turned into employees, no longer independent entrepreneurs. But unless the owners truly UNITE and Speak with ONE Voice, the corporation will prevail. Your equity is slipping away.
Attorneys rarely "weigh in" unless they are retained to do so. This is one of the oldest issues in franchising, and McDonald's management has been all over the board in how to address it. There was a time when, if Operators, in a meeting, started talking about prices or discount promotions, the company people were supposed to leave the meeting. Of course, in the field, this was generally ignored since the local VP couldn't manipulate the Co-Op without participating in the meetings.
.
Being under corps thumb, OPNAD and NFLA will definitely not challenge this. But will the NOA, our INDEPENDENT owners association, address it along with their esteemed counsel???
Senior Leadership are not leaders they are stewards to McKinsey Consulting. We have just finished all the planning meetings and NFOM's for 2026. So, while they all leave and go on their end of the year vacations they drop insane standards upon us. What a Kroc of crap. Ray would have never allowed for this disrespect towards the owners. New standards that will now judge individual owners value and pricing. This is the set up for national price setting and beverage initiatives that McDonald's Corp decides the price for the owners. No wonder why marketing keeps pushing empowerment of Digital decisions and marketing expenses to small number of owners on Boards of the BU's and OPNAD. If we don't sign a new Value Commitment letter that they WILL push, are we deemed as not meeting the standard? If we argue a promotional program at a BU Meeting, are we now not meeting standard? If we do not like giving away more food than the Red Cross on GMA, are we not meeting the standard? McDonald's setting the price through the third-party consulting companies is not fair trade it is price manipulation; Fair Trade is out the window and the attorneys for NFLA and NOA need to get involved. Again, like previous years we meet, plan and listen then get disrespected by McDonald's SLT. NOA please up your game and get Zarco involved as I do not see any place for National Franchising Standards written into the Franchise Agreement we signed. This constant barrage is divisive and undermines the whole Franchise model. Shame on you Chris K.
The problem is that the owners are NOT UNIFIED. If the majority of owners joined and SUPPORTED the NOA then we would have strength in numbers and could demand a seat at the table. But the majority of owners have been threatened, harassed and intimidated by the company, so we are not United. The answer is clear- Join the NOA. Sixty nine cents a day is cheap insurance to protect your equity and to have our unified voice heard!
I know the NFLA will be mute. But WHO is the New Chairman of the NOA? Is it someone who is unafraid to speak up like Blake Casper or David Bear were ?? Owners need fearless LEADERSHIP now more than ever!
Agree !!!!
Spot on.
Post a Comment