McDonald's: baguette to join hamburger on the menu

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McDonald’s launches a new attempt to woo the French where it hurts: la baguette. Starting in September, McDonald’s will sell fresh bread with breakfast. Baguette sandwiches are also on the books for 2012.

The famed hamburgers chain is getting set to revolutionize the fast-food world by introducing baguette on its menu. Starting in September, clients will be able to enjoy breakfast “à la française”: butter and jam spread on fresh bread will be available in all 130 of the company’s McCafé shops, which have separate counters offering coffee, pastries and other baked goods. In the first semester of 2012, McDonald’s will push the experiment further by introducing a baguette-based sandwich. McDonald’s will bet on very accessible prices to compete against France’s more than 34,587 bakeries.

The Holder Group, which owns the Paul bakeries and the famous Ladurée stores, will supply the bread. The company already supplies pastries and other baked goods to France’s McCafé stores. “For the first 15 years, from 1980, what we did above all was offer people a slice of America," said Nawfal Trabelsi, senior vice president for McDonald's operations in France and southern Europe. “Nowadays, we are part of the everyday lives of French people. Our priority is to integrate locally and mix our traditional offer of hamburgers and ice-creams with French culture, all the while inventing new forms of sandwiches. The French are passionate about bread and crazy about baguettes. We are progressively responding to a demand which is already there.” According to the Gira Council cabinet, the French eat nine times more sandwiches than hamburgers. More than 60 per cent of sandwiches sold in France are made with baguette.

A new generation of sandwiches

By baking fresh bread in the morning, McDonald’s hopes to spike its breakfast offer while improving its image. “You’ll smell the fresh bread as soon as you come in," said Isabelle Kuster, vice president for McDonald's operations in France and southern Europe. Starting in September, the McCafé stores will offer little individual bread flutes, sold in twos with a portion of butter and a little pot of jam (apricot, raspberry and orange), produced traditionally in the Pyrénées mountains. “Our bread is baked on site all day long.” said Kuster. “We want to always sell it warm. » Already 25 per cent of McCafé transactions take place in the morning, with most of the stores opening between 7 and 8 a.m. Yet breakfasts account for less than one per cent of McDonald’s sales. “Doubling sales would be marvellous,” said Kuster.

The very symbolic addition of the baguette to McDonald’s menu fits into a larger strategy of adapting to French eating habits while working with local suppliers. In 2009, the chain introduced a whole wheat Big Mac hamburger. In January, it launched the McCantal, with French cheese, and in the end of February, the Charolais, with French meat. “At McDonald’s, we’re constantly trying to reinvent ourselves,” said Trabelsi. “Diversifying the bread offer is at the heart of our product evolution strategy.” Since May, McDonald’s also offers the McWrap, made to order in a big flat pancake. France is the second country after Austria to bet on this new generation of sandwiches which completes the offer of hamburgers and salads. First results have exceeded expectations. In two months, more than 50 per cent of clients have tasted them once and 75 per cent made it a repeat experience.

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