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Main
Date: 03 Mar 2007 13:51:01
From: BillK
Subject: No, I am not a McDonald's Employee
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Nor do I own their stock. Coming across this article and the other
one I just posted is a coincidence.
FYI, from Thursday's On-Line Wall Street Journal:
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McDonald's Is Poised For Lattes
By JANET ADAMY
ch 1, 2007; Page A11
In a direct shot at Starbucks Corp., McDonald's Corp. is moving closer
to adding lattes and cappuccinos to its menu across the country.
The fast-food giant wants to keep competitors from poaching its
lucrative breakfast business and draw customers throughout the day
with what it calls a "destination" beverage line. It is installing
behind some of its counters large black machines that dispense vanilla
lattes, iced mochas, caramel cappuccinos and other specialty coffee
drinks.
The move promises to create a major new competitor in the industry
pioneered by Starbucks. The Seattle-based coffee chain transformed
espresso from a niche Italian drink into a popular American ritual by
offering it in an appealing atmosphere and sweetening it with
flavorings and whipped cream. Last month, Starbucks Chairman Howard
Schultz warned in a memo to executives that fast-food chains and other
competitors were poaching Starbucks's customers.
McDonald's offering would make espresso drinks cheaper and available
to a broader swath of the population at its more than 13,700 locations
across the country. At stores where it is already serving the drinks,
McDonald's has priced most of them between $2 and $3. By comparison,
many of Starbucks's espresso-and-milk drinks sell for more than $3.
McDonald's began testing espresso drinks when it opened its first
McCafe in the U.S. in 2001 in an experiment to capture part of the
growing coffeehouse business. The company has yet to confirm it will
sell espresso drinks at all restaurants; a spokesman wouldn't say
whether McDonald's plans to add the drinks nationwide. However, the
chain has recently started selling the drinks at restaurants in
Michigan, New York and New Jersey, and one franchisee says McDonald's
has indicated it is preparing to add them in other parts of the
country.
"We don't have to test whether customers want them.... We know that
already," McDonald's President and Chief Operating Officer Ralph
Alvarez told investors at a conference in New York yesterday.
McDonald's espresso drinks will also compete with Dunkin' Donuts, a
unit of Dunkin' Brands Inc., which has been expanding its specialty
coffee offering in recent years and is laying plans for a nationwide
expansion.
McDonald's espresso drinks are part of a broad strategy at the Oak
Brook, Ill., fast-food chain to stretch beyond hamburgers and french
fries. In the past few years, the company has added more chicken items
and upscale salads. Last year, it upgraded its coffee to a premium
blend, which lifted its coffee sales. It is also looking at adding
smoothies to its menu.
Meanwhile, Starbucks last fall announced plans to start selling hot
breakfast sandwiches in its stores, treading on Egg McMuffin turf.
To keep service fast, McDonald's has installed push-button machines
that roll most of the drink-making into one step. By contrast,
Starbucks baristas make espresso drinks using a series of separate
steps that include steaming the milk by hand and adding the espresso.
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Date: 06 Mar 2007 01:30:05
From: Lavarock
Subject: Re: No, I am not a McDonald's Employee
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BillK wrote:
> Nor do I own their stock. Coming across this article and the other
> one I just posted is a coincidence.
>
> FYI, from Thursday's On-Line Wall Street Journal:
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> McDonald's Is Poised For Lattes
> By JANET ADAMY
> ch 1, 2007; Page A11
>
This just in from Pacific Business News (about McD's in Hawaii)
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2007/03/05/daily6.html?f=et71&hbx=e_du
--
They said that someone has to live in Hawaii and I raised my hand first!
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Date: 05 Mar 2007 16:05:53
From: CoffeeKid
Subject: Re: No, I am not a McDonald's Employee
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I read all this McD's news and just flash back to about early 1994,
when I went into a McDonalds on West Broadway at Blenheim in
Vancouver, and saw, front and centre (actually replacing the usual
burger slide out area) an Acorto commercial super automatic, and
McDonalds selling a wide variety of espresso based drinks from
straight single shots to 20 oz lattes.
Since then, I found out this was a "test ket" store, and they were
in on the early days of the espresso boom, trying to get in on the
Starbucks Boom (in 94, I think there were at least 20 or more
Starbucks in the Vancouver area - today it's over 300). They continued
to serve espresso based drinks there for at least two years - dunno
any longer than that, the last time I was in that location was around
1996.
I'm not entirely sure on this, but I also think they were using SBC
coffee then - just have fuzzy memories of the bag / logo there.
k
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Date: 04 Mar 2007 17:11:10
From: North Sullivan
Subject: Re: No, I am not a McDonald's Employee
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On 3 2007 13:51:01 -0800, "BillK" <rcgolfer@gmail.com > wrote:
>To keep service fast, McDonald's has installed push-button machines
>that roll most of the drink-making into one step.
Most gas stations serve these drinks already; nothing like dilluting
what qualifies as a specialty coffee drink.
North Sullivan
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Date: 03 Mar 2007 22:58:16
From: Flasherly
Subject: Re: No, I am not a McDonald's Employee
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Too bad - you'd average up somewhere around 15% additional MacDonalds'
monies*, than if you'd owned another, random stock (hypothetically, of
course, world kets experienced their worst setback last week since
9/11 suicide bombings due to subprime housing considerations). Talking
to a MacDonalds' manager late last night. Seems I recall her concern
over coffee or, vaguely, too much equipment, which I changed to the
next-most-popular national subject pastime -- managers and people, and
getting along somewhere cheap where entitlement is eminently seen fit
to pitch a bitch to any or all minions apparent. Yeppers - your
article link put her right into perspective. Even though MacDonalds
is to be fully automated, 'one-button' latte-based coffee beverages -
there's no excusing requisite maintenance and overhead - her initial
"diversity-challenged" complaint. Same thing the night before that,
take-out din-din from nearby Albertsons grocery store, when I barely
made a pressing date for latework because the clerk couldn't operate
the cheque scanner without a manager's intervention (she inadvertently
turned the power off to the unit). In a sense, I sympathize with that
particular young and attractive black MacDonalds manager, though with
a thought to mention there wasn't much choice. MacDonalds will be
monitoring its latte machine implementations. Neither she, nor I, are
bilingual, and since nearly everyone else there is of Latino origins,
does or will not speak English until pressed, it's going to be a
matter of testing adaptability. Best roll with punches, honey bunny.
* http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EDJI&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=mcd,%5EGSPC
On 3, 4:51 pm, "BillK" <rcgol...@gmail.com > wrote:
> Nor do I own their stock. Coming across this article and the other
> one I just posted is a coincidence.
>
> FYI, from Thursday's On-Line Wall Street Journal:
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> McDonald's Is Poised For Lattes
> By JANET ADAMY
> ch 1, 2007; Page A11
>
> In a direct shot at Starbucks Corp., McDonald's Corp. is moving closer
> to adding lattes and cappuccinos to its menu across the country.
>
> The fast-food giant wants to keep competitors from poaching its
> lucrative breakfast business and draw customers throughout the day
> with what it calls a "destination" beverage line. It is installing
> behind some of its counters large black machines that dispense vanilla
> lattes, iced mochas, caramel cappuccinos and other specialty coffee
> drinks.
>
> The move promises to create a major new competitor in the industry
> pioneered by Starbucks. The Seattle-based coffee chain transformed
> espresso from a niche Italian drink into a popular American ritual by
> offering it in an appealing atmosphere and sweetening it with
> flavorings and whipped cream. Last month, Starbucks Chairman Howard
> Schultz warned in a memo to executives that fast-food chains and other
> competitors were poaching Starbucks's customers.
>
> McDonald's offering would make espresso drinks cheaper and available
> to a broader swath of the population at its more than 13,700 locations
> across the country. At stores where it is already serving the drinks,
> McDonald's has priced most of them between $2 and $3. By comparison,
> many of Starbucks's espresso-and-milk drinks sell for more than $3.
>
> McDonald's began testing espresso drinks when it opened its first
> McCafe in the U.S. in 2001 in an experiment to capture part of the
> growing coffeehouse business. The company has yet to confirm it will
> sell espresso drinks at all restaurants; a spokesman wouldn't say
> whether McDonald's plans to add the drinks nationwide. However, the
> chain has recently started selling the drinks at restaurants in
> Michigan, New York and New Jersey, and one franchisee says McDonald's
> has indicated it is preparing to add them in other parts of the
> country.
>
> "We don't have to test whether customers want them.... We know that
> already," McDonald's President and Chief Operating Officer Ralph
> Alvarez told investors at a conference in New York yesterday.
>
> McDonald's espresso drinks will also compete with Dunkin' Donuts, a
> unit of Dunkin' Brands Inc., which has been expanding its specialty
> coffee offering in recent years and is laying plans for a nationwide
> expansion.
>
> McDonald's espresso drinks are part of a broad strategy at the Oak
> Brook, Ill., fast-food chain to stretch beyond hamburgers and french
> fries. In the past few years, the company has added more chicken items
> and upscale salads. Last year, it upgraded its coffee to a premium
> blend, which lifted its coffee sales. It is also looking at adding
> smoothies to its menu.
>
> Meanwhile, Starbucks last fall announced plans to start selling hot
> breakfast sandwiches in its stores, treading on Egg McMuffin turf.
>
> To keep service fast, McDonald's has installed push-button machines
> that roll most of the drink-making into one step. By contrast,
> Starbucks baristas make espresso drinks using a series of separate
> steps that include steaming the milk by hand and adding the espresso.
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