McDonald's France

Last updated
McDonald's France
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Restaurant
Genre Fast food
FoundedJune 30, 1972 (first restaurant)
Headquarters,
France
Number of locations
1,485 (as of 2020) [1]
Area served
France
Key people
Raymond Dayan (Franchisee)
Michel Ksiazenicer (Franchisee)
Products
Services Franchising
Number of employees
1,485 (2020)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Parent McDonald's Corporation
Website mcdonalds.fr

McDonald's France, colloquially called McDo, [2] is the French subsidiary of the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. Its first location opened in 1972 by franchisee Raymond Dayan in Creteil, France, although the company itself still recognizes the first outlet as opening in Strasbourg in 1979. [3] McDonald's France currently has over 1,485 restaurants operating nationwide, serving an estimated forty-six million people each week.

Contents

McDonald's French operations are based in Guyancourt, Yvelines.

History

According to McDonald's official history, the chain created its first restaurant in France in 1979. However, in reality, the first "McDo" in France opened its doors on June 30, 1972, in Créteil, a suburb of Paris, thanks to the initiative of French businessman Raymond Dayan, who had signed a franchise agreement with the company. Since McDonald's didn't believe that the hamburger would be successful in the country of gastronomy, the contract authorized the Frenchman to create up to 150 restaurants over thirty years for a royalty of only 1.5% of the turnover instead of the usual 10 to 20%. [4]

Due to its success, by the end of the decade, Dayan had 14 establishments that sold almost twice as much as in any other country, and McDonald's offered to buy his restaurants. However, Dayan refused, and McDonald's filed a lawsuit against him for non-compliance with production and hygiene standards, which they won in 1982 after a long legal battle. Dayan kept his restaurants, but he had to rename them O'Kitch [5] and eventually sold them to Quick restaurants in 1986.

Without even waiting for the end of the lawsuit, McDonald's opened a restaurant in Strasbourg in 1979.

In 2009, McDonald's France modified his logo, replacing the red color with green, in a marketing strategy to fight against the reputation of being a junk food brand and present a greener image.[ citation needed ]

As with McDonald's locations worldwide, the franchise primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, french fries, breakfast items, [6] soft drinks, milkshakes and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, fish, wraps, smoothies, and fruit. The company also operates the McCafé chain within many of its stores. McDonald’s in France is known for its pastries such as croissants, doughnuts, pain au chocolat, and macarons. There is also a McBaguette, introduced in 2012, filled with two burger patties, two slices of Emmental cheese, lettuce, and French mustard. It is typically offered seasonally and resurged in popularity in 2022 after being featured in the TV series Emily in Paris . [7] [8]

Technology

In 2016, in what U.S. media described as "McDonald's of the future," over 90% of McDonald's France had self-ordering touchscreen kiosks. [9] [10] McDonald's France smartphone app, GoMcDo, was one of the first in France to offer integration with Apple's Passbook. [11] [12]

McDonald's France also has introduced reusable tableware in an effort to cut down on food waste. The tableware has been praised internationally for its aesthetics and design language. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburger</span> Food consisting of a beef patty between rounded buns

A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast-food restaurant</span> Type of restaurant

A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baguette</span> Long French bread

A baguette is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough. It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veggie burger</span> Non-meat hamburger

A veggie burger is a hamburger made with a patty that does not contain meat, or the patty of such a hamburger. The patty may be made from ingredients like beans, nuts, grains, seeds, or fungi such as mushrooms or mycoprotein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bánh mì</span> Vietnamese bread or sandwich

In Vietnamese cuisine, bánh mì or banh mi is a short baguette with thin, crisp crust and a soft, airy texture. It is often split lengthwise and filled with meat and savory ingredients like a submarine sandwich and served as a meal, called bánh mì thịt. Plain bánh mì is also eaten as a staple food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quick (restaurant)</span> Belgian chain of restaurants

Quick Restaurants is an originally Belgian chain of hamburger fast food restaurants currently based in Bobigny, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Quick was founded in 1971 by Belgian entrepreneur Baron François Vaxelaire and operates around 400 restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quarter Pounder</span> Hamburger sold by McDonalds

The Quarter Pounder is a hamburger sold by international fast food chain McDonald's, so named for containing a patty with a precooked weight of four ounces (113.4 g), or one quarter of a pound. It was introduced in 1971. In 2013, the Quarter Pounder was expanded to represent a whole line of hamburgers that replaced the company's discontinued Angus hamburger. In 2015, McDonald's increased the precooked weight to 4.25 oz (120 g).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filet-O-Fish</span> Fish sandwich sold by McDonalds

The Filet-O-Fish is a fish sandwich sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was created in 1962 by Lou Groen, a McDonald's franchise owner in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, in response to declining hamburger sales on Fridays due to the practice of abstaining from meat on that day. While the fish composition of the sandwich has changed throughout the years to cater to taste preferences and address supply limitations, the framework of its ingredients have remained constant; a fried breaded fish fillet, a steamed bun, tartar sauce and pasteurized American cheese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDonald's</span> American fast food restaurant corporation

McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand and later turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and, in 1961, bought out the McDonald brothers. Previously headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, it moved to nearby Chicago in June 2018. McDonald's is also a real estate company through its ownership of around 70% of restaurant buildings and 45% of the underlying land.

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. McDonald's traces its origins to a 1940 restaurant in San Bernardino, California, United States. After expanding within the United States, McDonald's became an internat ional corporation in 1967, when it opened a location in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. By the end of the 1970s, McDonald's restaurants existed in five of the Earth's seven continents; an African location came in 1992 in Casablanca, Morocco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wimpy (restaurant)</span> Restaurant chain

Wimpy is a fast-food chain that was founded in the United States. It found its success internationally, mainly in the United Kingdom and South Africa. It has changed between being a table-service establishment and counter-service establishment throughout its history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDonald's Israel</span> Israeli master franchise of the fast food restaurant chain McDonalds

McDonald's Israel is the Israeli master franchise of the fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. Currently operated and licensed by Alonyal Limited, McDonald's Israel is the largest of Israel's burger chains with a 60% market share. It was the first Israeli outlet to be opened in 1993 and a major competitor of the local restaurant chain Burger Ranch. The world's first kosher McDonald's was opened in Mevaseret Zion in October 1995. After a sales decline attributed to consumer boycotts as part of the BDS movement, McDonald's Corporation announced in 2024 that it would buy Alyonal pending regulatory approval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro (restaurant chain)</span> Icelandic fast food chain which replaced McDonalds in 2009

Metro is an Icelandic fast food restaurant chain. It replaced McDonald's after McDonald's left Iceland on 30 October 2009, as a result of the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and high import tariff on imported ingredients. The franchise holder, Lyst Hr., refused to increase the prices of their products, to stay competitive with local restaurants who used ingredients sourced locally. The franchise owner decided to close down all McDonald's operations and replaced them with their own franchise, Metro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big N' Tasty</span> Hamburger sold by McDonalds

The Big N’ Tasty is a hamburger sold by the international fast food chain McDonald's. It is designed to compete with the Whopper sandwich. A similar variation called the Big Tasty, without the center "N'", which was first released in Saudi Arabia, is sold outside the United States in parts of Europe, South America, South Africa, The Middle East, and Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDouble</span> Hamburger sold by McDonalds

The McDouble is a hamburger sold by the fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's. It is a variation on the double cheeseburger, with only one slice of cheese placed between the two beef patties. It was introduced in 1997. It is one of the cheapest products sold by the company, and for this reason is often included in the chain's budget menus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oldest McDonald's restaurant</span> United States historic places

The oldest McDonald's restaurant is a drive-up hamburger stand at 10207 Lakewood Boulevard at Florence Avenue in Downey, California, United States. It was the third McDonald's restaurant and opened on August 18, 1953. It was also the second restaurant franchised by Richard and Maurice McDonald, before the involvement of Ray Kroc in the company. The restaurant is the oldest one in the chain still in existence and is one of Downey's main tourist attractions. Along with its sign, it was deemed eligible for addition to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, although it was not added at the time because the owner objected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDonald's New Zealand</span> Restaurant chain in New Zealand

McDonald's Restaurants Limited is the New Zealand subsidiary of the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. Its first location opened in 1976. In 2017 McDonald's New Zealand had 167 restaurants operating nationwide, serving an estimated one million people each week. The company earned revenues of over $250 million in the 2018 financial year.

AirTag was a French startup that was acquired by Morpho, at the time a Safran subsidiary, in 2015. It was a mobile shopping and payments provider.

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References

  1. "Qui sommes nous ?". Mcdonalds.fr. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  2. "TBWA Paris MCDONAld's".
  3. "Notre histoire".
  4. "C'était il y a 50 ans : En 1972, à Créteil, le premier restaurant McDonald's de France secoue le pays de la gastronomie". 8 August 2022.
  5. "O'KITCH : N°3 Vidéo | INA".
  6. Griner, David (August 27, 2019). "These McDonald's Egg McMuffin Videos Might Be the Most Satisfying Ads Ever Made". Adweek . Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  7. "Menus McDonald's® - Menu, prix et détails nutritionnels".
  8. "Yes, You Really Can Grab a McBaguette Just Like 'Emily in Paris' — but There's a Catch".
  9. "McDonalds of the Future features touchscreen ordering, Greeters and Table Service". 16 May 2017.
  10. "McDonald's rolling out self-ordering kiosks in Europe; will U.S. Be next?".
  11. Pietri, Antoine (23 October 2013). "The new means of payment for daily transactions". Le Nouvel Économiste (in French). Retrieved 25 April 2020. Airtag a ainsi développé des solutions basées sur les smartphones, permettant de supprimer le passage en caisse. La société est notamment à l'origine du service GoMcDo
  12. "L'app de commande McDonald's désormais disponible dans le Passbook de l'iPhone". Internet Retailing (in French). 4 October 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2020. Airtag, fournisseur de solutions de Mobile Shopping vient de rendre compatible son application de commande et de paiement développée pour McDonald's avec l'application Passbook de l'iPhone [...] l'application GoMcDo pour iOS6 est l'une des première en France à disposer de la fonctionnalité "ajouter à Passbook"
  13. "Macron versus McDonald's: how France ditched disposable food packaging". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-06-08.