BRUSSELS — Fast food giant McDonald's is speeding up its move to minimize the use of plastic in its restaurants in Europe, where legislation on single-use items is becoming increasingly restrictive.
The US burger behemoth announced Thursday the introduction of new packaging in all its restaurants in Europe by the end of 2020 for the McFlurry, an ice cream dessert currently served in a disposable cup with a thick plastic lid.
The new packaging does away with the need for the lid, McDonald's says, estimating that the change will save more than 1,200 tons of plastic a year in Europe.
The European Union is implementing stronger legislation to try to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills, with a ban on around a dozen non-recyclable items including drinks straws set to come into force in 2021.
Other measures from McDonald's include replacing plastic lids on drinks with a fiber-based alternative in France, a key European market for the company, saving some 1,100 tonnes of plastic per year.
"We have a goal to have all of our packaging from renewable resources by 2025, and also a goal to recycle in every single one of our 37,000 restaurants around the globe by 2025," the McDonald's vice president for sustainability Keith Kenny told AFP.
Plastic is used in 12 percent of McDonald's packaging in Europe, the company says, with 60 percent of restaurants in the 8 biggest markets offering customer recycling facilities.
In the UK, the company is testing a scheme in some restaurants to let customers return used Happy Meal toys.
"We know that perhaps we're going to market with imperfect solutions, but our customers will give us credit for that and we continue to develop and improve them as we learn more and we get customers' feedback and we improve the process," Kenny said.
Major corporations, often criticized by campaigners for putting profit before the environment, are trying to respond to growing pressure from consumers for more responsible practices.
Food and cosmetics giant Unilever announced last month that it will cut its use of new plastic in packaging by half by 2025, acknowledging that the move was partly aimed at young, more environmentally conscious customers.
In May 2017 the campaign group Zero Waste France published a report criticizing McDonald's approach to waste.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK — McDonald's announced Sunday that president and CEO Steve Easterbrook was out after showing "poor judgment" by engaging in a "consensual relationship" with an employee.
Easterbrook was replaced by Chris Kempczinski, the president of McDonald's USA. Kempczinski was also elected to the board of directors.
"Easterbrook... has separated from the company following the board's determination that he violated company policy and demonstrated poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee," the company said in a statement.
There were no additional details of his ouster, and whether he was fired or allowed to resign.
Kempczinski "has the right mix of skills and experience to lead us forward having run our US business, where franchisees are delivering strong financial and operational results, and overseen global strategy, business development and innovation," the company quoted Enrique Hernandez Jr, chairman of McDonald's board of directors, as saying.
In its most recent earnings report, on October 22, McDonald's said profits dipped 1.8 percent in the third quarter from the year-ago period to $1.6 billion. Revenues edged up 1.1 percent to $5.4 billion.
The fast-food giant notched a healthy 5.9 percent increase in global comparable sales, including a solid rise in the United States.
But profits were pressured by increased spending on technology and research and development.
McDonald's has invested heavily in home-delivery and mobile pay initiatives in recent years, and in 2019 has unveiled a number of acquisitions to boost its drive-through operation.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK - McDonald's turned in another strong round of earnings Tuesday following heavy promotions in the US as it ramps up tech-focused home-delivery and mobile pay initiatives.
The fast food giant scored a solid 6 percent jump in global comparable sales, fueled by gains in several key markets, including the United States, China, Britain and Canada.
"We're building a better McDonald's and winning back customers," said chief executive Steve Easterbrook, who was appointed in 2015 and has been credited with turning around the chain and dousing worries about rival chains and growing consumer enthusiasm for healthier fare.
Net income for the quarter ending September 30 was $1.9 billion, up 47.7 percent from the year-ago period. That included a gain of about $850 million from the sale of China and Hong Kong businesses to franchising companies.
Revenues fell 10.4 percent to $5.7 billion due to the divestments in Asia.
Easterbrook has been praised for successful roll-outs of the chain's popular all-day breakfast option and other new programs, and with efforts to simplify the menu in order to speed visits for customers.
The British-born chief has also reorganized McDonald's international divisions and aggressively pursued store refranchising that has raised funds that have helped to offset the costs of technology investments and higher spending on salaries and worker training.
US sales were lifted by some aggressive discounting initiatives, including the McPick 2 value deal, which charged $5 for 2 meal-sized items, such as the Big Mac and Chicken McNuggets.
Comparable sales in the US rose 4.1 percent despite lower sales in regions hit by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
The results "are a testament to both (McDonald's) resilience and the soundness of its reinvention strategy," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.
"Promotional activity has been key to McDonald's success within the US," Saunders said.
"While such activity is not new and helped to drive trade during the second quarter, we are encouraged that it still has resonance given the recent increase in the number of offers and deals from fast food rivals."
MCDONALD'S ON DEMAND
Easterbrook said he had been encouraged by early efforts on home delivery in the US, currently available at 3,700 restaurants, with a target of 5,000 by the end of the year.
He said the service was a "meaningful contributor" to sales at participating restaurants because there are many return customers.
"Given consumer trends, we can already see it growing," said Easterbrook. "We were a little late to enter, but I think we've entered with more muscle and intent than probably most other competitors could probably muster."
McDonald's is also eyeing growth through greater use of mobile ordering and curbside pickup. The program currently has about nine million active users on a monthly basis, said Chris Kempczinksi, president of McDonald's USA.
The chain is focused on training employees "to really understand when a curbside order comes up, how do they take that order? How do they go out and bring that food to the customers?"
The objective is to have the service running effectively by the time it begins publicizing the service in 2018, he added.
"We want to make sure that when we do flip on the marketing switch, we're ready to handle the business," Kempczinksi said.
Shares of McDonald's rose 0.8 percent to $164.67 in afternoon trading.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
