You may have already heard about
McDonald's move to be Starbucks prime competition, but I'm going to talk about it anyway. McDonald's plans to open coffee bars, "McCafe"s in their US restaurants this year, but will it be successful?
As one commenter on
Serious Eats mentions, they've had McCafes in Australia for a number of years. When I was in Australia in 2006 I happened to visit a McDonald's that had one. While it seemed strange to start with, I can definitely see how this could work,
in Australia that is.
There, unlike in the US, they have a high concern as to what you put into your body. For example, all of those trans fat laws coming into effect in the states have been in place for years in Australia, their Big Macs are made with meat! Real meat! At first I didn't like the fries there at all because they we not greasy—soggy, greasy fries being something I was accustomed to at home. But after eating fast food in Australia (and New Zealand) I didn't feel gross or guilty for putting something ("something" because we don't know what it is most of the time) unhealthy into my body, because I hadn't.
Personally, I would consider fast food in Australia real food and nothing like the "mystery meat" we have here and that's why I think McCafes can work there. Not to say that they won't work here, I'm not going to make that prediction just yet, but I for one, will not be trying it. I would have to be pretty desperate to buy a specialty coffee drink from a place already considered
hazardous to my health, and of which I question the ethics regularly (on an executive and mere associate level).
As a side-note, I don't care for Starbucks at all, but for other reasons.
What's your opinion on McDonald's having baristas? Do you think it will be a success? Will you try it yourself?
