Given the large number of participating restaurants – potentially, this will mean a free breakfast for millions of McDonald’s customers across countries. Over 5,000,000 Egg Muffins will be given away – cracking 5 million eggs into action - across 5000 participating restaurants in over 30 countries spanning 16 time zones – served by over 250,000 crew dedicated to ensuring a great start to your day.
Despite breakfast being considered as the most important meal of the day, most people tend to ignore this meal. A research study says that one in every 3 Indians today doesn’t eat breakfast and this number is fast increasing. Studies also indicate that as many as 60 per cent of young Indians in Mumbai alone have at least one breakfast outside home in a week.
“Even though Health experts have been stressing on the importance of having breakfast, there are thousands who skip the first (and most crucial) meal of the day citing a plethora of reasons. McDonald’s National Breakfast Day campaign is an effort to remind customers to start their day well”, stated Smita Jatia, Managing Director, Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd that operates and manages all McDonald’s restaurants in West & South India.
“By inviting our customers to join us for a free McMuffin in the morning, we want to start a movement and rally people to make breakfast an integral part of their healthy morning. We at McDonald’s, are cognizant of our responsibilities towards our customers and are constantly engaged in delivering nothing but the best to them - be it products, service and experience” she stated.
“Consumer insights reveal that today, people eat out nearly 7-8 times a month compared to 3-4 times just a few years ago. The trend of eating breakfast outside home is something that is fast developing in the Indian market. This has opened up the breakfast segment as a potential high-growth one for food service players,” She added.
Speaking on National Breakfast Day, Vikram Bakshi JV Partner & Managing Director, McDonald’s India (North & East) said, ‘Through National Breakfast Day, we want to demonstrate to our customers that we are an affordable and tasty way to the start the day’ said Vikram Bakshi,.
‘And Breakfast is a significant business for McDonald’s. In some established markets for McDonald’s across the world, breakfast accounts for nearly 25 percent of total restaurant business. In India, it is still early days for the breakfast menu, but we believe similar potential exists for McDonald’s in India’, he says.
‘Breakfast is a growing business opportunity; and a driving force in our overall business focus. Our strength is that we offer affordable and convenient breakfast solutions for consumers on the go. Our aim is to establish our leadership in the domain in India’ he further added.
In India, McDonald’s introduced its world famous breakfast with a mix of globally famous breakfast products and locally developed innovations. It was especially created to provide customers wholesome choices like the Sausage McMuffin with Egg & the Egg and Cheese McMuffin for the non-vegetarians; and Veggie McMuffin and Veg Supreme for the vegetarians. The menu is a compelling choice of wholesome and quickly served products that are ideal for people who are always on the go.
]
Brief Background on McDonald’s:
McDonald's is the world's leading global food service retailer with more than 34,000 locations serving approximately 69 million customers in 119 countries each day.
Celebrating 16 years of leadership in food service retail in India since the launch of the first restaurant in 1996, McDonald’s today has a network of over 300 restaurants across the country. The brand is managed in India by Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Limited (CPRPL) in North and East of India; and Hardcastle Restaurants Private Limited (HRPL) in South and West of India. CPRPL is a Joint Venture partner with McDonald’s Corporation to own & operate McDonald’s restaurants in North and East of India.
In India, McDonald’s serves approximately 300 million plus customers, annually; and provides employment to more than 12,000 people. It currently has 300 restaurants in India of which 145 are located in North & East India and 155 are located in West & South India.
In North & East India, the restaurants are located at: 51 in Delhi, 21 in Haryana - Faridabad (4), Manesar (2) (Highway and Drive - Thru), Gurgaon (11), Karnal (1) (Highway and Drive - Thru), Panipat (1), Ambala (1), Sonepat (1) 8 in Rajasthan- Jaipur (4), Jodhpur (1), Kota (1), Udaipur (1), Ajmer (1), 2 in Uttaranchal– Hardwar (1), Dehradun (1), 34 in Uttar Pradesh – Noida (6), Greater Noida [1], Ghaziabad (8), Mathura (1) (Highway and Drive Thru), Kanpur (2), Meerut (2), Lucknow (6), Agra (2), Allahabad (1), Varanasi (2), Gajraula (1) (Highway and Drive - Thru), Khatauli (1), Bareilly (1) 20 in Punjab - Chandigarh (4), Ludhiana (3), Doraha (1) (Highway and Drive - Thru), Ldh-Chd Highway (1) (Drive Thru), Jalandhar (3), Patarsi (1) (Highway and Drive - Thru), Amritsar (1), Patiala (1), Zirakpur (2), Khanna (1), Bhatinda (1) (Highway and Drive Thru) Dasuya (1) 5 in West Bengal – Kolkata (4), Howrah (1), 1 in Himachal Pradesh- Jabli [1] and 2 in Madhya Pradesh- Gwalior (1), Bhopal (1), 1 in J & K – Jammu (1)
Prior to its launch, the McDonald’s invested six years to develop its unique cold chain, which has brought about a veritable revolution in food handling in India…immensely benefiting the farmers at one end and enabling customers to get the highest quality food products, absolutely fresh and at a great value.
In line with its respect for local culture, India is the first country in the world where McDonald’s does not offer any beef or pork based food products. In India, McDonald's has also re-engineered its kitchen operations to address the special requirements of vegetarians. Vegetable products are kept separate throughout the various stages of cold chain including the front end restaurant operations. The mayonnaise and the soft serves are also 100% vegetarian.
