Gourmet Buns And Pulled Pork? Can McDonald’s Be Saved?

Despite a surprisingly successful run at SXSW this year, McDonald’s is seeing a steady decline in sales. On Monday McDonalds’s CEO Steve Easterbook outlined a ‘turnaround plan’ to reverse the long-term decline.

During Monday’s 23 minute video, McDonald’s American CEO, the Englishman Steve Easterbrook said: “The reality is our recent performance has been poor. The numbers don’t lie.”

Maccas has seen its annual profits plunge by 13 per cent in 2013 and 15 per cent in 2014. They have also had to close 350 poorly performing stores in Japan, the United States, and China.

In response to this poor performance, Easterbrook has outlined two major steps to make Ronald McDonald rich again:

Step One: Reorganise

One of Easterbrook’s plans is to shake up the fast-food giant’s internal structure. This includes cutting net costs by US$300 million a year, selling 3,500 restaurants to franchisees by 2018 and dividing the company into four divisions.

The franchising proposal has been put through the McDonald’s deep fryer. Earlier this year, Easterbrook announced that the wages at McDonald’s owned stores will be at least $1 more than the minimum wage. However, McDonalds goal is for 90 per cent of its restaurants to be franchised owned.

Easterbrook also said shareholders could expect a return of US$8 billion to US$9 billion by the end of 2015.

“McDonald’s new structure will more closely align similar markets so they can better leverage their collective insights, energy and expertise to deliver a stronger menu, service, and overall experience for our customers.” Easterbrook said during the video.

On Monday, despite these plans, McDonald’s stock was down 1.7 per cent to closing at US$96.13. On Tuesday, this stock number was unchanged.

Step Two: Food Overhaul

Maccas is hoping to get butts in seats by introducing a new #CreateYourTaste option. Customers can build their own burger from scratch, choosing from 19 ingredients.

Your customised burger is delivered to you on a wooden tray with a metal basket for the chips, a style of food presentation popularised by the hipsters culture.

Since being introduced late last year, the self-service booths are now available in 300 Aussie stores.

McDonald’s Australia CEO Andrew Gregory, told news.com, that: “McDonald’s is innovating and changing again to meet the needs of our customers. What we’re really doing here is simply what our customers have asked us to do.”

Never cried whilst eating until today. THIS WAS AMAZING! @maccas #CreateYourTaste pic.twitter.com/AYRpO4BzC2
— Elliott Lovejoy (@ElliottLovejoy) May 6, 2015

Just made my own burger at Maccas #createyourtaste #mctasty pic.twitter.com/RgFmFPxHY6
— Ryan Furamenko (@r_y_s_c) May 6, 2015

Can you believe this is a @McDonalds burger? Tastes pretty amazing! #CreateYourTaste pic.twitter.com/4vsC9Ash6V
— Lee Bird Photography (@leebirdphotog) May 2, 2015

Had to try it again! #createyourtaste (@ McDonald's in Newmarket, QLD) https://t.co/ZJXuJlPu4r pic.twitter.com/ZYINDzN7dW
— Scott (@5cott) May 2, 2015

It’s almost as if McDonald’s is denying its greasy, super-size-me, past.

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