McDonald’s Plans Canadian McCafe Pilot
Fast food retailer McDonald’s, which recently launched a promotion to spread awareness of its proprietary Premium Roast coffee in Canada, plans to expand its Canadian coffee business. According to Dow Jones, McDonald’s will test its in-store McCafe coffee shop concept at an unspecified number of its approximately 1,400 Canadian locations later this year.
McDonald’s has installed McCafe mini-coffee shops featuring upscale coffee beverages such as cappuccinos, espressos and lattes at more than 10,000 U.S. restaurants. The retailer has also piloted stand-alone McCafe locations with an expanded food assortment in Australia, and may pilot that concept in Canada, as well.
McDonald’s credited premium coffee beverages as playing a key role in its successful performance in 2008, despite the global recession. McDonald’s is also expanding its offering of fountain and bottled beverages this year, and a company executive was quoted as saying the retailer seeks to become a “beverage destination” for consumers. Operators of more than 600 McDonald’s restaurants in Southern California banded together on their own to launch an online locator informing consumers of where to find McDonald’s serving McCafe beverages in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura.
Rival fast food retailer Burger King has also been actively experimenting with its menu and store concepts. Burger King is testing more than 45 new menu items, including non-traditional items such as a grilled salmon sandwich and steak kabob. Burger King also recently opened its first Whopper Bar café-style restaurant in Orlando, FL and is piloting an interactive, urban-themed restaurant concept called Burger King Studio at locations in Orlando and Chicago, IL.