McDonald's Catches Up With Consumer,Industry Trends

We serve the vast majority of the population in all our markets,McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook,who is British,told CNBC.There are some who come in for a burger,but we can also innovate at the premium end of the menu.What we're seeing is,incremental purchase of all day breakfast food.It's growing margins and generating a lot of enthusiasm amongst our customers and out team.We have very ambitious plans in tech and across the whole area of helping to make consumers' lives more convenient and more fun.*
In relation to McDonald's as a company,we made the conscious decision to go one dollar above the minimum wage.With health care inflation,it's tough.That's why we've got to increase the bottom line.We're seeing a reduction in crew turnover.That improves the customer experience.*
We're going to cage-free eggs in the US.It's going to take us 10 years to get there because of supply.We use two billion eggs a year.*
Our owner-operators are wonderful,an animated bunch that helps us make the decisions,and we help them make their decisions.When we took the all day breakfast,we got a 98% approval by the owner-operators.Traditional industries are being transformed,and we should not be blind to that.We have a 1+ billion dollar delivery business in Asia.We are building up our digital programme to offer more ordering and payment options and customer loyalty programmes.A number of our regions have been selling mozzarella sticks and they do sell well,Mr.Easterbrook observed.*
McDonald's (MCD)

Renewing McDonald's

Change may be coming to a McDonald's near you.The storied fast food chain is seeking to reinvent itself in light of declining sales worldwide.It wants to be seen as a modern,progressive burger chain,in line with such peers as its former subsidiary Chipotle's,Burger King and Wendy's.Table service is being introduced in Germany.Other updates being tried are customised burgers;less antibiotics in chicken;digital ordering kiosks;and all-day breakfast food.
CEO Steve Easterbrook was brought on to spearhead the new direction,replacing Don Thompson as of 1 March.He will be focusing on turnarounds in the US,Germany,Australia and Japan.Easterbrook,who is British,had been chief brand officer before assuming his new position.Earlier in his career,he had been a McDonald's manager in London before leaving the firm to lead British casual dining chains PizzaExpress and Wagamama.Mr.Easterbrook returned to McDonald's in 2013 as head of UK and Northern Europe,and was credited with an uptick in UK sales.
McDonald's shares closed at 97.83 in New York on Monday,up 0.90%.*
McDonald's (MCD)