McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food chain, has reported a further 2.2% fall in sales for the month of November. Store sales have fallen almost every month in the past 12 months.
The company is blaming strong competitive activity and lagging economic recovery for the fall in sales. However, consumer tastes are changing – traditional McDonald’s customers are abandoning the golden arches for more upmarket fast food experiences such as gourmet burger outlets.
Consumers are also more conscious of eating healthier, and it seems that no matter what healthier options McDonald’s tries to introduce on its menus, the fast food chain is not perceived as healthy.
This is a problem for the company and it is attempting to change the negative perceptions about its ingredients.
One in five beef burgers eaten in McDonald’s across Europe is made from Irish beef. This equates to the company purchasing 40,000t of Irish beef annually.
The biggest decline (4.6%) was seen in the US, the group’s largest market. Food scares in China were blamed for a 4% decline in Asia-Pacific due to one of McDonald’s main suppliers, the US-based OSI group, being accused of selling expired meat to customers.
It has also become a victim of the tensions in Russia, where the authorities cracked down on food safety.
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