For Thursday Structured Analysis McDonald’s CEO Explains Lack of Vegan Options The fast-food chain is well aware of its need to innovate in the era of Burger King’s Impossible Whopper and Carl’s Jr.’s Beyond Famous Star. by Anna Starostinetskaya May 1, 2019 1,292 Shares McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook explained the reason behind the fast-food chain’s lack of vegan options during a call with shareholders this week. Easterbrook revealed that the company is currently discussing plant- based options and examining the potential roadblocks it might encounter in updating its menu. “Is there an additional complexity?” Easterbrook asked rhetorically about the addition of plant-based options. “And if there is, is that complexity worth it?” This year, McDonald’s fast-food competitors have resolved any “complexities” associated with adding vegan-friendly options, including Carl’s Jr. which launched the Beyond Famous Star in January and Burger King’s announcement this week of its expansion of the Impossible Whopper to more than 7,000 locations nationwide. When it comes to the payoff of resolving those complexities, a vegan option at McDonald’s would be welcomed by at least 200,000 United States consumers—as supported by a petition for such options. ****************** McDonald’s Is Falling Behind: It Should Embrace Vegan Options April 17, 2019 Fast food burger giants like Burger King and White Castle are embracing the rise of plant-based foods and adding vegan burgers to their menus. McDonald’s, on the other hand, is not. The fries aren’t even vegan. Fast food burger giants like Burger King and White Castle are embracing the rise of plant-based foods and adding vegan burgers to their menus. McDonald’s, on the other hand, is not. The fries aren’t even vegan. This month Burger King announced that it will be rolling out the Impossible Burger, a plant-based option, in its stores nationwide after the completion of a pilot program in St. Louis. The move comes as White Castle and Carl’s Jr. have both adopted plant-based burgers, appealing to a new demographic of consumers concerned about meat’s cruelty and environmental impact. McDonald’s, which only serves plant-based burgers at its headquarters in Chicago, should wake up and hear the music. Stockholders will be disappointed to know that the firm’s executives are ignoring giant shifts in public opinion, as they continue dragging their feet on adopting a plant-based option. Meanwhile, nearly 160,000 customers have petitioned the company to add a healthy, meatless option. Acosta, a leading marketing agency, has found that nearly one in every four millennials is now vegan or vegetarian, and one in every three who still eat meat consume more than four vegetarian dinners every week. And yet McDonald’s does not serve a single vegetarian option in the United States: even the fries and hash browns have beef tallow powder, a reality that cost the corporation millions in lawsuits as consumers sued it for lying. But McDonald’s should not only look at existing demand– new laws have the potential to increase the price of cruelly sourced and cheap meat. In 2016, a whopping 78 percent of Massachusetts voters approved one of the nation’s most expansive animal rights law to date. The ballot question will one day be remembered as the beginning of the end for corporations who abuse animals. It bans the importation of products relying on cages that prevent pigs, chickens, and calves from “lying down, standing up, fully extending their limbs, or turning around freely.” The law was unique not in substance but range. All producers, even those outside of the state, must adhere to the law by 2022 if they wish to sell their animal products in Massachusetts. California’s Proposition 12, passed last November, goes to even greater lengths, banning the sale of meat and eggs from producers that fail to provide animals with basic rights to space. Even with this clear, national mandate to treat animals more humanely, the biggest fast-food chain in America is ignoring consumer opinion at its own risk: McDonald’s is falling behind. McDonald’s has also refused to work with the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane League to enact common-sense welfare reform, even as protests by animal protection groups have spread across the country. Chickens in McDonald’s supply chains are kept in complete darkness, extremely confined spaces, and are genetically engineered to grow so quickly that they often collapse from disease. While claiming a transparently weak victory, McDonald’s has admitted that they will not give chickens light more light for another six years, and that the move will only affect 70 percent of its supply chain. As news of this treatment has spread under the phrase “I’m Not Lovin It,” even among audiences who fiercely avoid knowing where their food comes from, it is no surprise that animal protection groups are gaining steam. And with global leaders like Germany’s Environmental Minister Barbara Hendricks banning meat at official functions and the United Nations officials calling for sustainability taxes on meat, investors should wonder whether meat-heavy companies like McDonald’s are pursuing a profitable long-term strategy. Meat taxes, in particular, are more popular than once thought, and evidence is mounting that the dynamic effects of the tax would save millions of lives, according to peer-reviewed research by Oxford University food scholars. It’s clear that global and domestic opinion is shifting rapidly. Investors who willing to put jest aside to consider the long-term outlook of McDonald’s strategy won’t like what they will find. The corporation should be scrambling for reform while it still can. It’s falling behind. ****************** McDonald PLC Marketing Essay Marketing Strategy for Mc Donald Plc Introduction Marketing strategy is essential for the success of a product in a target market as argued by Philip Kotler (1988). This is mainly because of the increasing diversity in the nature of the customers and the stiff competition in the market. In this essay the marketing strategy of Mc Donald the leading conglomerate in the fast food restaurants and services industry on selling vegetarian burger in the UK. Furthermore, the consumer behaviour for vegetarian burger in the UK is critically analysed in order to justify the approach of Mc Donald’s approach to deploy the identified strategy. Marketing Strategy for Vegetarian Burger by Mc Donald Plc The company under debate: Mc Donald Plc in the UK is the subsidiary of the American conglomerate Mc Donald Inc who specialise in fast food (burgers and fries) restaurants across the globe. The company is well established across the west and has a wide range of fast food products to cater the customer requirements and the market demand. The vegetarian burger is a key product for the company in the UK (Company Profile, 2005). It is further interesting to note that the company promotes vegetarian burger as its key product mainly in the UK among the western countries apart from its operations in the Far Eastern countries like India where the company pioneers in vegetarian range of burgers and fast food products. The marketing strategy for any product comprises of three key elements as argued by Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003) Product: The product in this essay is vegetarian burger. The key features of the product include low fat, high level of carbohydrates and above all the use of quality ingredients to prepare the product. The fact that the burger meals are under fast food category and that its sales is predominantly high during the lunch hours makes it critical that the quality of the product and its ingredients are of high standards in order to achieve customer satisfaction. The deployment of best practices like washing the hands and the worktop before preparing the vegetarian burger every time in the kitchen of all the retail outlets (company profile, 2005) and the use of fresh ingredients to prepare the filling for the burger are the key features that distinguish the product from its competitors in the market. Also, the bran Mc Donald that is famous for its adherence to strict quality principles in preparation of the products as well as the procurement of the ingredients is an accelerating force for the promotion of the vegetarian burger in the retail outlets of Mc Donald Plc across the UK. Price: Philip Kotler (1988) further argues that price is the ultimate decision-making factor for purchasing a product by the customer. Even though food is in the bas of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs making it an essential element for survival, the argument of Malcolm McDonald (1996) that the customers prioritize their needs not only based upon their requirements but also based upon the price of the product they are intending to purchase. The approach of Mc Donald Plc to sell its products at a relatively lower price to its high street competitors like burger King Plc makes it evident that the pricing of the product is an essential element for the growth in its sales. Alongside, the pricing of the products in Mc Donald not only at a lower level but at a competitive level to reflect upon its quality further justifies the pricing strategy of the company with respect to the vegetarian Burgers sales in the UK. Promotion: The advertising and promotion initiative of an organization to increase the sales of a product play a critical part in the marketing strategy s argued by Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettit (2003). This is evident from the company’s investment in advertising its products and the launch of promotion campaigns reflecting upon the social and national events like football premiership, health awareness initiative of the government etc.