McDonald's Targets Bun Toasting, Burger Searing
McDonald's is tweaking how it cooks it burgers in hopes of winning back customers.
To improve the taste of its food, the chain is toasting its buns longer so sandwiches will be warmer,said McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook at the Bernstein's Strategic Decisions Conference in NewYork. He also said the company is changing the way it sears and grills its beef so that the patties arejuicier.
"It's these little things that add up to big differences for our customers," he said.
Easterbrook, who stepped into his role March 1, said the changes are part of the company'srecommitment to "tastier food across the menu." The remarks come after Easterbrook laid out theinitial steps for turning around the company's performance earlier this month. Those plans include arestructuring of the company intended to strip away layers of bureaucracy, and an acceleration ofrefranchising restaurants around the world.
During the presentation, Easterbrook also said the company will stop reporting monthly salesresults.
McDonald's Corp., based in Oak Brook, Illinois, said June will be the last month for which it reportssales at established locations. Those results will be reported with its second-quarter earningsresults. Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, a McDonald's spokeswoman, said the company started reportingmonthly sales results in 2003.
Other major restaurant chains, including Burger King's parent company Restaurant BrandsInternational, and Yum Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, do not report salesfigures on a monthly basis.
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