McDonald's

McDonald's is the world's leading global foodservice retailer with more than 33,000 locations serving approximately 64 million customers in 118 countries each day. More than 80% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local men and women.

In India, McDonald's has two Indian entrepreneurs: Amit Jatia, Vice Chairman, Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd, which has been awarded a Development Licensee status by McDonald's Corporation, U.S.A, spearheads McDonald's operations in West & South India, while McDonald's restaurants in North & East India is managed by Vikram Bakshi's Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Limited, which is still a Joint Venture with McDonald's Corporation.

For Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd ('HRPL'), the transition to a Development Licensee implies a higher level of commitment by McDonald's Corporation as it enhances its trust in the local partner. McDonald's ensures that the evolution to a Development Licensee takes place only after the financial strength, viability, profitability and long - term sustainability of the business is assured.
Celebrating over 15 years of leadership in food service retailing in India, McDonald's now has a network of over 250 restaurants across the country. McDonald's India is a leader in the food retail space, with a presence of more than 250 restaurants serving more than 6.5 lakh customers daily in India.

McDonald's India and HRPL in particular has an aggressive expansion plan - including market expansion, new customer outreach formats and menu expansion. With HRPL becoming a Development Licensee in the year 2010, there are strong and robust commitments to investments, expansion and growth. By 2014, HRPL plans to double the number of restaurants it currently has.

HRPL is expanding its reach by expanding the portfolio and access points with formats like from kiosks, drive thrus, web-delivery and petrol pumps in addition to the restaurants.

In 2012, HRPL plans to open another 35-40 McDonald's restaurants in West and South India.

McDonald's India is committed to sourcing almost all of its products from within the country. Prior to its launch, the company invested six years to develop its unique cold chain, which has brought about a veritable revolution in food handling, immensely benefiting the farmers at one end and enabling customers to get the highest quality food products, absolutely fresh and at a great value. McDonald's India today has developed local Indian businesses, which can supply the highest quality products required for its Indian operations.

Respect for Indian Customs and Culture: McDonald's worldwide is well known for the high degree of respect to the local culture of each market it operates in. In line with this respect for local culture, India is the first country in the world where McDonald's does not offer any beef or pork items. McDonald's has developed a menu especially for India with vegetarian selections to suit the Indian palate and has also re-engineered its operations to address the special requirements of vegetarians. Special care is taken to ensure that all vegetable products are prepared separately, using dedicated equipment and utensils. This separation of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food products is maintained throughout the various stages of procurement, cooking and serving. So much so that the mayonnaise and soft serves are also 100% vegetarian and McDonald's uses only vegetable oil as a cooking medium in India.

An Employer of Opportunity: McDonald's India is an employer of opportunity, providing quality employment and long-term careers to professionals across the country. The average McDonald's restaurant employs 40-60 people from crew to restaurant manager. McDonald's invests in its employees, leveraging world class-training inputs to create ambassadors of the brand and creating food service professionals with global attitudes. The brand currently has over 10000 employees in India.

Quality, Service, Cleanliness & Value McDonald's is driven by the philosophy of Quality, Service, and Cleanliness & Value for Money. This translates into a commitment to provide customers high quality products, served quickly with a smile, in a clean and pleasant environment at an affordable price. This effectively means that the McDonald's menu is priced at a value that the largest segment of the Indian consumers can afford while at the same time ensuring that quality is not sacrificed for value - rather McDonald's leverages economies to minimize costs while maximizing value to customers.