Kavitha Rao v Andrew Tobert
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| McDonald's has announced it is to open vegetarian-only restaurants in India. |
Kavitha Rao: McDon't do it!
As a lifelong vegetarian and as an Indian living in Bangalore, I have been eating cheap fast food all my life. But not the skanky plastic garbage peddled by Maccy D's, KFC and their ilk. Instead, I might have a crisp, lightly browned dosa (rice and lentil crepe) with coconut chutney for breakfast, pav bhaji (bread rolls with a buttery vegetable hash) for lunch and chaat (a spicy mix of potatoes, yoghurt, onions, tomatoes, cilantro and crispy bits) for a snack. Usually, these will cost me about Rs 50 (about 50p), less than a McDonald's veggie burger, which goes for Rs 59. They will be healthier, tastier, fresher.
The recent announcement by McDonald's that it is launching a veggie restaurant in India had me bellowing "What fresh hell is this?" It's the culinary equivalent of selling ice to Inuits. Inuits may not have more than a hundred words for snow – apparently it's an urban myth – but I can assure you that Indians have many more than a hundred varieties of veggie fast food, not just a plain one-size-fits-all potato patty.
Oh, I have tried McDonald's veggie offerings, the ones carefully created for my primitive brown taste buds after years of research. Once. The dull McAloo Tikki burger is not a patch on the infinitely more delicious crispy alu tikkis with tamarind chutney found at any street vendor. Their McSpicy Paneer is a cop-out, falling back on that bland veggie standby: paneer. It's the insipid nut roast of India, the tofu of timidity.
Cleanliness, you say? Nope. Even if you are a foreigner with a stomach like tissue paper, you are better off eating piping hot, fresh dosas from a busy street vendor than you are eating stale fast food. India has always had homegrown chains of veggie fast food joints which are every bit as clean and quality conscious as McDonald's, perhaps even more so. And I'd rather give my money to a small business owner than a McCorporation.
But hey, I am not going to sermonise. Or even tell you, Morgan Spurlock-style, that veggie burgers are killing you slowly. I don't need to. After almost 16 years in India, McDonald's has just over 250 outlets here, which, in such a massive country, is pocket change. I suspect that Indians are smart enough to know which side of their pav bhaji is buttered. Sure, broke students and tubby kids hankering after plastic toys will continue to eat there, but there will also be plenty like me who shun the Golden Arches in favour of a truly happy and tasty meal.
• Kavitha Rao is a Bangalore-based journalist
Andrew Tobert: I'm lovin' it!
There are few more powerful symbols than the Golden Arches. For me, they represent at once the homogenising influence of market forces, the evil of industrialised agriculture, the obesity crisis. And the last time I was truly happy.
McDonald's, from the first time I crossed its air-conditioned threshold, has offered a place of sanctuary and calm. The smell of whatever-that-smell-is wafting through the air and the happy children, joyous with additives swirling around their blood streams. This is where I've had my best thoughts, my most cherished memories. This is where I can truly be me.
And I'm not alone. From Shanghai to Chicago, kids, pensioners, lawyers and students come and are welcome. However much people might not want this to be true, McDonald's is the global restaurant – the place that unites humanity. You might find better, cheaper food elsewhere, but that's not going to convince Parisian school kids or London lawyers coming back for more.
I used to go three times a week (and yes, dear readers, I was a fat child). I wasn't just lovin' it, I was stalking it on Facebook, and naming our soon-to-be-children. But three months ago, my life changed for ever. I became vegetarian (something about climate change and global hunger, but I forget the details). My place of solace was now closed off.
Of course when I walk by a restaurant, it looks as it always has. As I stand on the street corner, I see people laughing, enjoying themselves. I want to go in, and share the things that make us human. But I know I can't, the temptations will be too much. The Chicken Selects, the Big Mac, the fries (I could go on), so delicious and so stunningly cheap. I miss them. A lot. But I made my choice, and I must accept the consequences. So there's me, outside. An outcast in a meat-eating world. But perhaps not for much longer.
That's why a McDonald's veggie restaurant in India fills me with unadulterated joy and hope. Yes, there are haterz, there always are. And to them I say, whatevs. Indians won't all become obese overnight, and their cuisine isn't going to suddenly disappear. Maybe Indian vegetarians, like their meat-eating peers the world over, watch McDonald's ads and think "you know what, that looks cool". And isn't that a wonderful thing? That we live in a world where people can pick and choose the best of global culture, regardless of where they were born? McDonald's is the global emancipator. May its benevolence spread far and wide.
But first, could the veggie outlets spread to London? Say, Hackney, E9. Then I won't feel a stab of jealousy every time I pass a branch. And maybe then I can stop resenting being a vegetarian, and start actually enjoying it. Yes, those really will be the (Mc)Salad days.
• Andrew Tobert is a copywriter, an environmental activist and a lousy vegetarian
Taken from guardian.co.uk, HERE.
I can not agree more for McDonalds to open their vegetarian branch in India. I agree because there is so much advantage from this opening of vegetarian branch. This new idea of McDonalds can give Indian vegetarian people motivation to continue their choice. McDonalds have been vegetarian people’s temptation to eat non vegetarian, so opening the McDonalds that is their version, is a very good idea. And also, vegetarian people will have more choice to eat, obviously. And for people that is non vegetarian, this is a new way for them to start eating fast food in healthier way. This will also affect Indians health, since Indian people tend to eat McDonalds a lot. And the last advantage is that this will inspire other people to also start investing in a more healthy way. When big company like McDonalds has start to concern about healthy issue and start moving, other people will also affected with this idea and start moving too. Therefore, people will be more concern about health issues. For people that disagree with this idea, they can just choose not to go to this branch, because people need to take this to easy way and start to look at the interests of a lot of people, not just several people. And yes, obviously I will try this McDonalds if I go to India someday!
ReplyDeleteMcDonalds innovation in India is actually a good and brilliant idea due to the era of globalization in which people are starting to eat healthy food and fresh food nowadays. Besides, a lot of branches that McDonald’s have open in India so it means their new innovation will reach the market demand. Me, personally, I wouldn’t eat “Vegetarian McDonalds” it is because, my perspectives about McDonalds is junk food and an unhealthy food in which we only eat McDonalds because of its delicious and fast servings chickens and dishes. On the other hand, McDonald’s vegetarian menu won’t be as fresh, clean and healthy as the vegetarian food that people see or buy in the market. I believe people will also refuse to buy the vegetarian menu because the trademarks of McDonalds are fried chicken. On the other side, this type of vegetarian fast food restaurant is good for people who are really busy with their activities and have no time to cook a healthy dish and for those who are veggies and have no time to cook.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, McDonalds decision to be a vegetarian restaurant is a good innovation to make their people healthier, but they must think about the strategies to attract them for buying their vegetarian food. As we know, McDonalds is a junkfood restaurant. Junkfood means food which has low nutritions value and contain a big calories/fat with a little vitamin, minerals, or protein(wikipedia). so, we know that junk food is unhealthy food. Then, if McDonalds will be a vegetarian restaurants, are people believe that their veggie is also fresh and healthy? I think it’s still related to junkfood definition. Food that is meant in that definition use some kinds of flavour ingredients like onions, carrots, cucumber, and so on and also use beef and chicken meat as their main ingredients. Thus, what I mean is all of the ingredients absolutely have their big value of vitamins, proteins, minerals, or fibre, but when that kinds of healthy ingredients come into McDonalds they will be change to junkfood which is unhealthy anymore. So, when they want to be a vegetarian restaurant, they have to change about people mindset from “McDonalds serve junkfood” to be “McDonalds serve healthyfood”.
ReplyDeleteFrom this article, we could see that Kavitha Rao disagrees with the new McDonald’s innovation about providing the vegetarian menus. She said that Vegetarian Fast Food is still unhealthy, not like the traditional Indian food she had been eating since she was a child. Actually, her opinion is not particularly wrong. But it doesn’t mean that I support in banishing the vegetarian menu innovation. As you can see, Andrew Tobit really supports the Vegetarian menus in India. For him, these innovations really are beneficial especially for vegetarians who couldn’t enjoy the joyous and happiness in the McDonald’s fast food restaurant. Honestly, vegetarian fast food isn’t as healthy as the vegetarian foods Kavitha had mentioned, but sometimes by not providing the vegetarian foods could adverse the vegetarians itself. For example, a group of people who wanted to eat and gather together in the McDonalds canceled their plan because one of them were vegetarians, or even vice versa. Well everyone knew that McD’s are one of the best places to hang out because besides its deliciousness, it’s also very cheap. To be honest, in my opinion McDonald’s really is a good place to relax and calm like Andrew mentioned. So it would be very sad if vegetarian peoples couldn’t join their friends eating and gathering in the McDonald’s just because it doesn’t provide the vegetarian foods.
ReplyDeleteLast but not least, in conclusion it depends on your own. If you really wanted to have a very healthy lifestyle and (well in my opinion) a little bit stuffy, it’s ok if you don’t like the innovation from the McD’s. But, that doesn’t mean that we don’t respect others who are meat lovers or even the fast food restaurants itself who provides the Vegetarian foods. About my opinion, I one hundred percent agree with the Vegetarian foods innovation. I'm Lovin' it! It would not burden someone anyway right? Thank you for reading. Critics and advise for me would be very recommended!
Seeing both sides of opinions, we can’t really judge which one is wrong and which one is right according to our perception. While opening a vegetarian franchise in India might seem as a nice gesture, considering the extensive amount of the variety of vegetarian food in India, it is still thought-through to divert from the delicacy of vegetarian cuisines itself. McDonald's, whose trademark has always been in the vicinity of “junk food” or “unhealthy meal”, still has miles and miles to go in order to change people’s assumption to them, especially the people of India. Nevertheless, there is no harm in trying. I will say, it is not easy to shift from one thing to another, let alone to invent something that is new and totally different from what they used to do. For this reason, we should be more supportive and more open minded rather than being pessimistic about new innovative things.
ReplyDeleteI think, from a personal standpoint, I would have to agree with Kavitha Rao in this debate. First of all, opening a vegetarian restaurant in debatably the most vegetarian country in the world would be a very ill-advised decision, especially for such a well-established and infamous fast food chain restaurant like McDonald’s. McDonald’s is, in my opinion, trying way too hard to sell something that is the absolute opposite of what they serve anywhere else in the world. From a logical and strategic standpoint, opening a vegetarian fast food restaurant in India might sound like an appealing business plot to foreign investors. McDonald’s will finally expand their target market by enabling vegetarians, which happens to represent the majority of Indian citizens, to come and eat culturally approved food. On the other hand, like Kavitha Rao said, selling vegetarian food to Indians is the equivalent of “selling ice to Inuits”. In conclusion, I would not eat at a vegetarian McDonald’s because I don’t believe that it would taste better, be cheaper, nor would it represent Indian culture better than the already existing vegetarian fast food vendors. I believe that McDonald’s should just stick to what they do best, increasing the rate of worldwide child obesity with their admittedly delicious fast food options.
ReplyDeleteKnowing that McDonald is willing to open their veggie branch in India is quite surprising. As we may know that McDonald is a very success junk food company. One of the support factor of their success is certainly their marketing strategy; that probably has been inspired many businesses in the whole world. But maybe this time, the marketing strategy of McDonald would try or pushes their limit, in other words they will try to do something that is out of the box or so often we called innovate. New ideas or innovation may always resulting two perceptions; pros and cons. But once again, McDonald were very good at their marketing strategy. So really hope that McDonald won’t let its customers down this time with all the decisions they made. Eventually, whatever that might happens to McDonald in the future, we will always remember the great taste of their french-fries, Big Mac, Mc Flurry ice cream, and especially their cheeseburgers.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, a vegetarian McDonald is a great idea because it would be more environmentally friendly, and would not contribute to climate change, deforestation, animal abuse, obesity, and the continuous consumption of our ever-dwindling resources.Well there is a good argument from the opposition which bring out valid points such as the food "not being fresh", or that there are tastier, cheaper options out there, or that being a healthy vegetarian restaurant completely contradicts McDonald's reputation as an unhealthy, fast-food chain. But a healthy, vegetarian McDonald could start and/or promote a trend of healthy fast food, and with issues such as world hunger, obesity, climate change, and the destruction of natural habitat to make room for the beef industry, a healthy environmentally friendly alternative could be what the world needs. Sure it might not be the first choice if you live in a country like say, India, where a vegetarian community already created a cheap, healthy, environmentally friendly dietary habit, but in other countries where meat consumption is high, or its hard to be vegetarian, a fast-food chain that serves a good supply of healthy alternatives could prove life changing.
ReplyDeleteFrom a marketing or business point of view, I think that the idea of a vegetarian MacDonald’s burger is a smart move to target a larger audience in the Indian Market. The American multinational has always try to adapt its products depending the country and the culinary taste of the different region they implanting restaurants, We used to have the McBaguette in France for example. I think launching a vegetarian burger in a country with a large vegetarian population can attract new potential customer.
ReplyDeleteVegetarian burger is also a great business idea for the worldwide market, with the rising number of vegetarian people, and people trying to reduce their meat consumption, with the new awareness about climate change and animal cruelty, having meat free option is a good strategies to attract and retain consumer, with the example of Andrew who would love to continue eating at McDonalds, but also don’t want to renounce to his new life style.
From a marketing or business point of view, I think that the idea of a vegetarian MacDonald’s burger is a smart move to target a larger audience in the Indian Market. The American multinational has always try to adapt its products depending the country and the culinary taste of the different region they implanting restaurants, We used to have the McBaguette in France for example. I think launching a vegetarian burger in a country with a large vegetarian population can attract new potential customer.
ReplyDeleteVegetarian burger is also a great business idea for the worldwide market, with the rising number of vegetarian people, and people trying to reduce their meat consumption, with the new awareness about climate change and animal cruelty, having meat free option is a good strategies to attract and retain consumer, with the example of Andrew who would love to continue eating at McDonalds, but also don’t want to renounce to his new life style.
Well, first of all, it is all about perspective. I think things that have pros & cons like this must've got more than one perspective. First of all, I will take the eye of Kavitha Rao. Kavitha Rao told us an experience about tasting one of McDonald's veggie offering which is the McAloo Tikki Burger that she felt disappointed afterward. She felt disappointed cause it doesn't taste better than the ones that are sold in any street vendor. Other than the taste, she also complains about it's cleanliness. She even says that she'd rather give her money to a smaller business corporation than McCorporation. After a bit explanation on Kavitha's eyes, now we take a place on Andrew Tobert's eyes. Andrew Tobert told us that he was filled with unadulterated joy after hearing the news that India will have a McDonald's vegetarian restaurant. He also express his feelings about McDonalds as a restaurant that unites people due to its cheap price and comfortable place. Other than expressing his feelings, he thought that even with all McDonald's stigma about its food quality, people will not get obese directly after they ate, if you can control yourself, it would all be fine. Lastly, I personally think that Andrew also support the idea of innovation by McDonald's. In conclusion, it is all about perspective. Kavitha told us more about the quality of the food but Andrew told us more about his expression towards the company's innovation and also how it can bring joy to him and also people. Wrong or right cannot be decided with a matter of absolute, but it can be decided by which eye you are in.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kavitha's opinion regarding this issue. Opening a vegetarian McDonald's restaurant in India is not a strategic thing to do. India has many streetfoods and food stalls that sell much cheaper foods than McDonald's. You can find many kinds of foods in India, including vegetarian foods according to Kavitha. I personally think it's better to open a vegetarian McDonald's restaurant in developed countries such as the US and Australia, where most people find McDonald's cheaper than other restaurants.
ReplyDeleteA vegetarian McDonald's restaurant is a unique innovation. It gives access to vegetarians as they can choose a wide range of vegetarian menus. I would absolutely try eating at a vegetarian McDonald's restaurant if there is one in Indonesia, but I wouldn't eat there too often, because I prefer eating at cheaper places like Pujale and Warmindo. Also, I am not a vegetarian, and I am not used to eating vegetarian foods, so I would often get hungry if I eat vegetarian foods as they don't satisfy my hunger.
I am sorry, but I don’t agree with your opinion Data, because McDonald’s selected India as their target market for vegetarian foods due to the fact that in India the food mainly fruit or vegetable based food. For example mango puree. So I think it is a good marketing strategy to target India as their main market for vegetarian foods. And also for pricing they must have their own pricing method to overcome the level of income in India, the possibility is that they use cheaper raw materials or just focusing on the quantity of sales, so the statement from you might be consider as irrelevant. The second point from your comment is that they should sell their product in country like USA, or even Indonesia which the market for vegetarian foods still growing in case of USA and in Indonesia the market still a small market, then how come McDonald can satisfy their own target regarding their own sales?. So for me it is a good marketing strategy to increase the brand name in the new sphere of vegetarian products.
DeleteThat’s how I think, no hard feelings Data hehe
in my opinion, Mc donalds decision to open a vegetarian option is actually good as a healthy alternative to the usual fast food. as far I know vegetarian didn't have a lot of option to choose in a fast food restaurant. so it would be helpful for these people to have a fast food alternative in case they are on a rush to do something. Because nowdays people and getting busier in general. But, as the example stated the quality of the food is not as fresh as it should be. It is such a waste that the suppposedly ‘healthy’ vegan food isn’t made with the finest ingredients. Because, cleanliness and freshness of the food is one of the key aspect that is essentials for vegetarian. It would be so much better if these vegetarian fastfood is made with fresh ingredients so that it is more well-executed. I hoped that these vegan food would be improved in the futere by these fast food chains so that it is suitable for daily consumption.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, McDonald’s choice to open a vegetarian restaurant is a brilliant idea and stupid at the same time, why?. Because McDonald’s is known for its junk food and now it wants to open a vegetarian option what would people think about that huh?. Of course there will be some suspicion. People won’t easily believe of what are they making there because of their reputation as junk food maker. So i think what they should do is try to make a survey about how many people that want to have a McDonald’s vegetarian option. Then they can start to open it if there are more who wants the option than the the one who doesn’t. Now about those two people who debates. I really think that the problem is just the perspective and there are aren’t really any correct arguments here because it’s just everybody’s opinion here just like mine so i think we don’t really need to talk about those two anymore.
ReplyDelete- Dimas Aditya Permana
McDonalds is not the type of branch to shy away from odd innovations. Their ideas are always either unique enough to be enticing or just flat out strange. So hearing that they have plans to open a vegetarian restaurant doesn’t surprise me. McDonald’s is a world renowned brand and image; the best place to eat unhealthy and greasy junk food at. To open a vegetarian restaurant under the same brand and image would make the public hesitate rather than interested. ‘How can we trust this vegetarian restaurant when it’s so well known for it’s meat products and has never created a known vegetarian product at all?’
ReplyDeleteIf McDonald’s still aims to appeal to their vegetarian customers like Andrew Tobert, they should start small; to include one or two veggie burgers or meals for them to enjoy. Granted, not everyone will like them, as Kavitha has expressed, but their loyal vegetarian consumers will appreciate the inclusive step they took. Maybe, one day, when their image has shifted from ‘world famous meaty burgers’ to ‘world famous burgers of all kinds’, the idea of a vegetarian restaurant wouldn’t seem so farfetched, but as of now, I think it’s in everyone's best interest if they go back to the drawing board.
I believe this idea of McDonalds for launching a vegetarian restaurant in India is really thoughtful. These skeptical thoughts of people will pop up, but I believe that it is no longer a problem for the company. Take an example in Indonesia’s McDonalds, it is not surprising for us to see their new innovation every month. The menus are frequently changed, but because of their affordable price, consumers tend to try everything they made, even if it ended up with them to choose the basic menu of McDonalds. They like to take high risks on their marketing strategy. It’s a great opportunity too for them to produce a veggie meals as nowadays people are more aware to our screwed up environment, so the number of vegetarian people are increasing. But maybe McDonalds should consider Kavitha Rao’s thoughts as she said that the cleanliness is still poor, seeing that probably the most important thing in healthy food is the cleanliness itself.
ReplyDeleteMcDonald’s opening a vegetarian branch in India is definitely an improvement and an innovative way of initiating a movement where fast food joints can also provide meals not just for meat eaters, but also vegetarians. There are, however, pros and cons to opening a vegetarian McDonald’s in India. As Kavitha Rao mentioned, there are already many street vendors in India that sells a wide variety of vegetarian meals and at a cheaper price. A lot of people prefer to buy varieties of street foods than giving their money to a big corporation. But there are others that seem to like the idea of a vegetarian McDonald’s. The idea of McDonald’s opening a vegetarian chain seems to be a dream come true for Andrew Tobert as before he became vegetarian, he spent most of his early years dining at said restaurant. But personally, I don’t really agree with this idea since they’re putting too much risk on it. Instead of opening a vegetarian branch, I think McDonald’s should just make more varied vegetarian menus in their existing branches.
ReplyDeleteIs seems to me that McDonald’s is a brand that is very innovative on bringing new things to its menu. This approach to include a vegetarian option is actually a good thing to have. Providing vegetarian menus could also slightly improve the name of the brand that are common to inferred as the source of unhealthy food. But on the other hand, the quality of the food is also being questioned, because it is essential that the ingredients of those menus are fresh especially for vegetarian menus. I personally think that McDonald’s open a vegetarian restaurant in India is a weird thing to do, because India cuisines mostly consist of vegetables, herbs and spices that are fresher and cheaper than those offered by McDonald’s. As stated by Kavitha Rao, she could get a delicious crispy alu tikkis with tamarind chutney that she can find in any street vendors rather that the boring McAloo Tikki.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a vegetarian, but what I get from knowing vegetarian is that they tend to live a healthy life, am I right? McDonald's is known as a successful food-chain which sells fast food. Thus, fast food is arguably not considered as a healthy food. Sure, it's a good and innovative thing that McDonald's do to develop their market, but is it the right way to do so? I think the price will get higher than their usual food and the quality of the food will be doubted by some people.
ReplyDeleteAlso, from my point of view, opening the new McDonald's vegetarian restaurant in India is a very high-risk thing. Why? Because India is known by it's curry, dosa, pav bhaji, and also meats sold in small vendors along the streets and markets. They usually give a big portion for just a cheap price. Quoting from Kavitha Rao, the veggie burger that McDonald's offer is more expensive than her day meal. Also, she told us that even big restaurant like McDonald's doesn't guarantee that it's cleaner than the street vendors.
So, maybe it's not the time for Andrew Tobert and other people to enjoy this kind of new McDonald's unless McDonald's really prepared the system, ingredients, and most importantly the menus for vegetarians.
McDonalds plan to open a vegetarian restaurant in India for me is a very good plan, and it is a bold move. For years McDonalds has been labeled as a fast food restaurant, and it is in fact a fast food restaurant, and fast food has been always linked with junk food. So I think this is McDonalds plan to relabeled their restaurants as healthy food restaurants. Let’s see this from two perspective, from a vegetarian perspective this would be a dream come true, because now vegetarian could eat at McDonalds happily and with much more variety of vegetarian foods. From a non vegetarian perspective this would also be something new for them, maybe they could try and be more healthier by trying the new vegetarian menus. So I think this move that McDonalds is going to make is a brilliant idea. For me, as a non vegetarian myself, I would also try this new McDonalds vegetarian restaurant if it is available in my city, I mean, why not try it?
ReplyDeleteThere are two different points of view from this article, which is from Kavitha Rao and Andrew Tobert. Kavitha Rao decided to oppose the idea of McDonald’s veggie burger, while Andrew Tobert decided to be support it. Personally, I agree more on Kavitha Rao’s point of view due to reasons such as contrasting selling products between the former and the latest ones. McDonald has been known for its unhealthy fast food yet delicious products. Despite its unhealthiness, people are still willing to buy their foods because of its taste that everyone likes. Therefore, selling healthy vegetarian foods all of a sudden will turn the image of McDonald's upside down and might discourage customers to buy those latest foods, meaning that McDonald's have to start over with their customers base. McDonald's have to regain their customer’s trusts in their vegetarian foods. In my opinion, it is better for McDonald's to stay with their junk food products rather than selling products that do not describe them.
ReplyDeleteOpening a McDonalds vegetarian restaurant is a good innovation that I totally agree. By opening this vegetarian restaurant it could help people to eat more healthy and fresh food. Malnutrition is one of the problems that happened in India. So that’s why providing healthy food in India is important. But, McDonalds is famous for it’s “Junk food” so it was kind of hard to change people perspective. Based on both side opinions, we can’t tell which one is right and which one is wrong. Even though I agree about this innovation to open McDonalds vegetarian restaurant since there are a lot of vegetarians in India but I think McDonalds need to improve their vegetarian foods so that many of people could enjoy it. Overall, I think this is only the matter of perspective. Opening a vegetarian is a nice move that McDonalds could make but McDonalds need to found out how to change people perspective so that they vegetarian restaurant could make a progress.
ReplyDeleteThe McDonald plan to open first vegetarian branch is really bold move by McDonald. Over the years McDonald known as fast food restaurant that serve cheap and delicious food in many country, although its food is not the healthiest food in the world and can cause a lot of health problem especially obesity. But with all that McDonald become one of the most well-known company and place to eat together in many countries. With the opening of the new vegetarian branch, there will be a lot of people especially vegetarian in the world finally can enjoy hanging out to gather with their friend accompany by food that not draining their wallet. The sad thing is, it’s open in India where there are a lot of vegetarian food to choose. If it opens in country like US or Canada, there are big possibility that this idea will grow faster and more profitable. Because in a lot of country the amount of vegetarian restaurant is very little.
ReplyDeleteThe plan for McDonalds to open a vegetarian joint in India is a good movement that’s being performed by the firm itself. However if McDonalds is still having an image of a restaurant or a joint that serves an unhealthy food it would highly affect their sales due to the fact that vegetarian menus are closely related to dish that’re nutritious, using a high quality raw materials and somewhat expensive compared with regular dish. If there’s a high possibility that McDonalds would sell the food at a similar price with their regular menu, we as a customer cannot 100% guaranteed that McD uses a high quality raw materials or in this case a fresh vegetables and fruits as well as other complementaries that can be found in a single burger dish for example and due to the unhealty image caused by the word Junk Food that’s been labelled by the customers worldwide can affect their sales for quite a long time because it is difficult to turn people’s judgement towards something that’s been labelled for quite long time which in this case is McD’s image as unhealthy. However, despite the many arguments present in this decision, personally i would agree if McD decided to open a vegetarian/vegan joint since they’re trying to fulfill the demands of every single customers whether if they’re vegan or not. As well as their effort to promote healthy and “clean” eating habits by providing healthy food in the form of healthy dishes as well as creating the image and influence customers by giving an impression that vegetarian cuisine are affordable as well as tasty and “fast” which might be different for someone’s mindset in the past.
ReplyDeleteSomehow this article didn’t surprise me at all. Knowing that most of Indians are vegetarians, this is something that big restaurants/ companies would do to enhance their business. However this is not my first time seeing McDonald’s attempts to make the world a “better place”. I once saw an advertisement at McDonald’s and it said “donate to prevent and help people with diabetic” this is so ironic, because imagine how many sodas were sold in McDonald’s throughout the years. They want us to donate to help with diabetic problems around the world and yet, they are causing more people to get diabetic problems. But in this case, it depends on the circumstances, because people have different reasons as to why they are vegetarians, but wanting to live a healthier lifestyle is the most common one. So if I were a vegetarian living in India, I’d prefer the local cuisine, unless I’m very certain about the ingredients McDonald’s use. Because even if they open up a vegetarian restaurant, it may take some time to convince people about this idea due to its reputation as a junk food restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of opening a McDonald's vegetarian restaurant in India is a good idea, because it shows that the company cares about people’s health and also supports vegetarians in India . It is also a new innovation that has never been done by any other company (such as KFC). I am pretty sure that people will go and try their new innovation. However, we all know that McDonald’s is popular for their junk food such as burgers, fried chicken, etc. Junk food itself is a term that describes foods that are not healthy or have little nutritional content. Then, when McDonald’s is known as that kind of restaurant, people will always see them as a restaurant which is not a healthy restaurant. So, I think that McDonald’s should think about people’s perspective and try to change it by making a better product(fresh and also delicious) so that people will believe them more!
ReplyDeleteI personally don’t even remember when was my first time eating a McDonalds’ meal. McDonalds for me personally is the most famous food chain in the world and it is actually one of my favorite food chain restaurant. Although it is really fascinating seeing it from two totally different perspective I quite agree with McDonalds decision by providing vegetarian options in India. Well for starters India has the majority of Hindu citizens that raises the status of Mother to the level of Goddess. Therefore, the cow is considered a sacred animal, as it provides us life sustaining milk. The cow is seen as a maternal figure, a care taker of her people. Opening a vegetarian restaurant also shows respect towards all the Hindu citizens in India. Even though McDonald’s vegetarian menu might sound appealing to the market, McDonalds really has to elevate their standard and their menu has to represent true Indian culture. For example, Mcdonalds in Indonesia has a variety of local Indonesian dishes such as bubur ayam, durian ice cream and many more. To conclude, providing a vegetarian option and elevating their quality could be the correct option to attract the targeted market.
ReplyDeleteA vegetarian-based McDonalds?! That's a very very odd words right? But not too much if we're talking about it in India. For years, McDonalds in India don't sell any meat on their menus because Cows are worshipped there. After reading this article I understand that different cultures has their own different opinion. Kavitha Rao is Indian and she disagree with the idea of McDonalds opening a vegetarian outlet there and she prefers buying vegertarian food from local stall. Yes, she able to do that because there are hundreds or maybe thousands of vegetarian food stall in India, you can encounter them just in every corner of the street but what about Andrew Tobert?. I assumed he lives in London so it has a lot of differences from living in the busy streets of India right?, if Andrew wants to buy vegetarian food there's not much food stall in the streets of London but there are lots of McDonalds so if the vegetarian menu is available in London, it would help a lot of vegan to enjoy vegan meal easily.
ReplyDeleteIn my point of view, Mcdonalds opening the vegetarian restaurant in India is a good idea. We all know in India (Hindus) usually doesn’t eat cow meat (beef) because most Hindus respect cows for their gentle nature and cows are honored in their society. So, I think Mcdonalds have a great opportunity to open the vegetarian restaurant as many Indians are vegetarian. As we can see Mcdonalds is a fast food restaurant that provides junk food, and many people especially student love it because its cheap. It’s good that now their start to produce healthier food. But, if you’re totally vegetarian, you have to ask them about the sauce, mayonnaise, and oils which contains dairy product and if you have problems with Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian food being served in the same restaurant (because they still provide Non Vegetarian food), then I suggest you should avoid McDonald's altogether and look for someplace that serves only vegetarian.
ReplyDeleteThere are two different opinions on this article. Kavitha Rao prefers foods that are sold in the street vendors instead of the vegetarian menus sold in McDonalds. Meanwhile Andrew Tobert expressed the opposite idea. Well, in this case I could not possibly say which one is right and which one is wrong. Isn’t it refers back to personal preferences? I mean, if I like the taste of fried rice, for example, while a friend of mine said that it is unhealthy since it uses a lot of oil in the cooking process, should I stop eating it? Despite on being supportive or contradictory to both Kavitha nor Andrew, I think the idea that McDonald’s India being innovative and including the local dishes as its products is one way of promoting Indian foods to the world since it is a globally well-known fast food chain restaurant. I’m not saying that every single person on the planet aware of McDonald’s but I believe that the majority does know.
ReplyDeleteAs I read the articles i cant help but think that I agree with McDonalds' new innovation in making vegetarian menu, why? Because as Andrew Tobert said in the article, it would be nice to have vegetarians and meat-eaters seat together side-by-side eating at McDonalds. Vegetarians won't be an outcast in a meat-eater population anymore. But i have to pin-point Kavitha Rao statement regarding the vegetables' cleanliness issue of McDonalds.
ReplyDeleteRecently More than 500 people get poisoned after eating McDonalds Salad in few states of USA such as Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin, Connecticut, Florida, New York, Tennessee and Virginia. The illnesses are due to the contaminated salads with Cyclospora parasite. (https://www.omaha.com/livewellnebraska/people-sick-after-eating-mcdonald-s-salad-nebraska-and-iowa/article_1fbbb3ae-6eab-59b9-9830-7693b4166429.html) Therefore, it is important for McDonalds in India to really pay attention to the sanitation and sterility of its vegetables.
Still, if i am asked whether or not i would eat the vegetarian menu at McDonald, my answer is probably not. Like what Kavitha Rao said, I prefer to eat veggies at local stalls rather than invest my money to eat veggies at Mcd.
Nevertheless, i still think it is a superb idea for McDonald to make vegetarian menu considering the culture India has.
I strongly agree for McDonalds to open a vegetarian chain in India. Like what Andrew Tobert said, McDonalds doesn’t only offer food. It is a place of sanctuary for people from almost every social class everywhere in the world. We know there are places that sell better food with more affordable prices, but still, we go to McDonalds. Sometimes to hangout with some friends, sometimes to actually eat some decent burgers or fries, and some other times to do our work. There are a lot of reasons, but people around the world still go to McDonalds, even when they know that McDonalds doesn’t promote a healthy lifestyle. From the articles above, I think there are a lot of vegetarians in India. So, it is a good business opportunity for McDonalds. Other than that, it’s good for the company image. Lastly, the reason why I support this, is mainly because I think everybody deserves McDonalds. As weird as this is, if McDonalds open a vegetarian chain in India, vegetarians in India could actually make McDonalds as their place of sanctuary too, just like everyone else in the world. Maybe, some vegetarians haven’t been able to enjoy McDonalds because of their restriction and limited menu in McDonalds. But, now they can freely enjoy McDonalds like the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteMcDonalds as one of the biggest junk food chain, attracts millions of customers every day. In fact, from a site I read, it said that McDonald's sells more than 75 hamburgers every second. Thus, McDonald's feeds 68 million people per day and that's about 1 percent of the world's population.
ReplyDeleteI guess by having this reputation, people especially loyal customers driven by their curiosity are willing to try whatever they’re selling. This includes the very innovative idea of a McDonald vegetarian restaurant. By my observations, most of the new products the McDonalds invented here in Indonesia aren’t much of a success, they were more likely just a marketing strategy to shake things up. I personally think this would just be a momentary success, or as the idiom says, a flash in the pan for McDonalds. They would eventually lose to the already established restaurants that offer cheaper, better tasting, healthier foods. Moreover, I suggest they just stick to what they’re known for best–the fattening 500 calories cheeseburgers.
Well this is a very innovatiove idea. I have a friend. She's a budhist, and her whole family is a vegetarian. So, sometimes if we eat in a restaurant such as McDonald and KFC, or other fastfood restaurant, she's the only one that can't eat. With this idea, i think it allows her to eat in the restaurant. Besides, it also attract more customoer. Why? Because with the vegetarian McDonald restaurant, vegetarian people who couldn't eat in McDonald, because there was no vegetable menu jn McDonald,now they can eat in it. But, the succesful of this menu is depend on McDonald. If the taste of the food is disgusting, people won't eat it again. Maybe at the first time when McDonald release the brand new food, people will curious about the taste and McDonald will be full of people and all of them are gling to buy that food. But as i said before, people won't eat it again if the taste is disgusting. But, in my whole life, McDonald never got a bad rating. So, i think the food will be a sucessful product, because it's a brand new inovation in fastfood history and i think people will like it especially vegetatian people.
ReplyDeleteLet’s start by analyzing the Indian market: According to UN FAO, Indian has the lowest meat consumption in the world. Another research conducted by Hindu-CNN-IBN State of the Nation Survey mentioned that 31% of Indian are vegetarian. This is due to the Hindu believe that recommends "ahimsa" which is non-violence against animals.
ReplyDeleteI would say that McDonald is making the right move here; trying to tap into the vegetarian consumers which are one-third of the nation’s population. One of the reasons why McDonald is successful in many countries is due to its ability to adjust to their customers by taking into consideration the local culture. For example, rice is a staple in every meal for Indonesian. McDonald understood this habit, hence they created the fried chicken and rice set. This is something you cannot get once you go to the US where they only serve burger at McDonald's. To sum up, responding to the market is a strategy for how McDonald maintain its golden crown.
Opening a vegetarian McDonalds is not really a bad idea because even though Indians are accustomed to fast food there would still be people who enjoy eating something different. Andrew mentioned that every time he passes a McDonald restaurant he is tempted by the sense of togetherness of people hanging out whilst enjoying fast food. It is in fact part of the appeal of going to McDonalds; people come to feel the atmosphere, not just because of the food. However, that does not mean that a vegetarian McDonalds burger would taste bad. Personally, I won’t mind trying a big mac burger filled with tempeh instead of meat. And besides, one failing vegetarian McDonalds chain in India would not harm the company’s finances anyway. To summarize, opening a vegetarian McDonalds chain in India isn’t a nonsensical decision like what is implied in Kavitha Rao’s writing, in fact, it could be a fresh addition to an already well-known chain of restaurants that even I would like to try out.
ReplyDeleteMcdonalds is widely known as a fast food restaurant. As we all know, the fast food industry has a lot of competitors. Without innovation, fast food restaurant could not compete with each other and grow into something big. Recently, the culinary market is demanding for vegetarian products. It would be a great breakthrough for Mcdonalds to introduce their vegetarian branch. In my opinion, if Mcdonalds enters the vegetarian market, they can be the leader of the fast food chain, due to the fact that no competitors are entering the vegetarian market. By having both vegetarian and junk food branch, they can attract two target markets at a time. This innovation will have its advantage and disadvantage for the company. Also, people will have a different perspective on this. Some people may agree and some people may not. But i think it's good that people express their opinion on this because critics and suggestion helps Mcdonalds grow to a better company.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I agree with the innovation by McDonald's to create a vegetarian menu in India. Based on data from the World Economic Forum, a Swiss nonprofit foundation, states that one of India's top 7 challenges is health. Indian faces the double burden of infectious diseases and a dramatic rise in non-communicable diseases, now estimated to account for more than half of all deaths. These include cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory conditions and type 2 diabetes, all of which affected over 63 million Indians in 2012 alone.
ReplyDeleteAs we know that fast food has a dangerous effect in our body. Healthline Media, Inc., a privately owned provider of health information headquartered in San Francisco, CA explains that when your digestive system breaks down these foods, the carbs are released as glucose (sugar) into your bloodstream. As a result, your blood sugar increases. This increases your risk for insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and weight gain.
With the conditions in India that are so terrible, therefore, innovating fast food will be a major step in overcoming health problems. Because I'm sure to stop people from consuming fast food, It's impossible !!!. One way that can be done is to reduce the consumption of fast food while for the restaurants, they can take steps to provide a healthy menu. Trust me that to deal with a big problem is by doing small things consistently.
For Kavitha Rao, I think she has to do more research. Because if you oppose a policy by making comparisons without clear data, It is very useless. She needs to see the real situation about his country through surveys and data because here we are talking about the right of 63 million people to get health not only the opinions of one person.
As we know, McDonalds is famous for its junk food such as hamburger, chicken products, wraps and desserts. And McDonalds is opening their first vegetarian restaurant, it is obviously a big question for some people, why would this world’s largest restaurant chain decided to put healthy menu in it? When everyone knows its reputation about the unhealthy menu. People consider this as an insight for choosing what they need or want to consume. And as far I know vegetarian didn’t have much option to choose, by opening the first McDonalds vegetarian restaurant it could help vegetarian consumer to add more option to eat. Regardless from the image formed by the society, McDonalds is trying to offer alternatives and it should be appreciated instead of reject it because I see no harms for both sides, the vegetarian and the restaurant.
ReplyDeleteThat’s all from me.
Thank you!
McDonald’s planning on opening a vegetarian restaurant means that they have opened their eyes to new possibilities and also, educating and practicing their customers to be vegetarian. Personally, there is nothing wrong with being a vegetarian and there are lots of benefits of being a vegetarian. It prevents cancer, lowering blood pressure, preventing diabetes, etc. Even though adapting will not be easy, but, eventually, customers would buy them as they have no other options. This is one of the ways to educate customers on how to become a vegetarian. Opening a vegetarian restaurant would be a challenge to a fast food restaurant. McDonald should be able to keep its food quality. There should be fresh stock of vegetables and fruits and the oils they use should be clean from animal. A way to promote this vegetarian restaurant is by making a vegetarian meat. A vegetarian meat is a food made from vegetarian which has the shape and texture of meat. This vegetarian meat could be a magnet used by vegetarian fast food restaurants to attract customers.
ReplyDeleteOn recent accounts, the amount of cases of people being overweight due to eating disorders, unhealthy diet plans and the preference of eating fast food such as McDonald’s on a regular basis. Well, who could blame them? I bet every single person that has tasted McDonald’s had at least enjoyed the meal. I think that, the deliciousness and accessibility of McDonald’s (you could even find a McDonalds in every few kilometers in Jakarta) makes it a very good idea to open…in anywhere else than a country like India. I fully agree with the arguments that Kavitha stated. I think that India has already a surplus amount of vegetarian street food and restaurants, a vegetarian McDonald’s would be an unhealthy substitute for the already existing food places. I would suggest that the first vegan McDonald’s to be opened in a country like the united states of America where vegetarians still relatively struggle to find a place to eat.
ReplyDeleteI personally would never visit a McDonalds that serve as a veggie restaurant because the essence of McDonalds is the cheap, unhealthy and delicious fast food that it provides to its customers. If McDonalds were to open its own veggie restaurant, I don’t think that a lot of people would want to visit and eat there because McDonalds prices are more expensive than other fast food, so this veggie branch would also likely have similar prices for its food. A lot of people would probably visit and eat at other cheaper veggie restaurants that they can find on the streets or maybe even food trucks. Considering that I’m also not a vegetarian, this add to the list of why I would never visit McDonalds as a veggie restaurant. On the other hand, I think some of my friends who are vegetarians would actually visit McDonalds as a veggie restaurant because they might be curious how it would turn out to be and if they like it, they might actually have it as one of their regular places to eat veggies at.
ReplyDeleteOpening a vegetarian branch of McDonalds is one of the way to improve and compete in the market these days. Vegetarian lifestyle is getting more and more followers throughout these days and it started to change the habit of so many people. Being a vegetarian means you have to eat fresh and healthy vegetables, and no animal related products. If McDonalds want to make a vegetarian restaurant, they should supply they’re counter with the freshest ingredients, and also using the best quality vegetables as their ingredients to make a vegetarian foods. The menu should be the type of foods that people on the area demands, and also using the local taste. Indian is well-known to be a vegan-friendly country as their foods is mostly made using fresh vegetables. McDonalds should also consider about how they can work with the local chef or cooks, who already know the recipe and how to make the vegan-Indian type of food. The opening of the vegan restaurant is one of the brightest idea McDonalds have ever made in my opinion, and also when they open the vegan restaurant, they want to change the people’s perspective about McDonalds, who is well known of their instant junkfood, to the McDonalds who serve the fresh and healthy type of food.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that most Indians do not eat cows meat, its definitely a great idea to open veggies McDonald in India. It has a wide range of target consumer and it’ll become a new trend for Indian people. However, if we see this situation from the competitiveness perspective, then i believed that it’ll be a total failure for McDonald for doing such an action, because there are tons of better, healthier, and cheaper vegetarian food across India. In my opinion, this idea can be work only for the first up to second year after its opening, because people tend to be curious and like to try out a new trend. After passing these two years, people will started to realize that its not worth it and that there are many other option out there that provide better products. On the other hand, this idea might actually work if they established the concept in Europe and America. Why? because vegetarian foods are EXPENSIVE there, and therefore McDonald can be a life saver for lots of budget vegetarian out there.
ReplyDeleteTo know that McDonald will open their vegetarian branch in India is very astounding. As we all know that McDonald’s is a very successful company with a low quality nourishment food. The one factor that makes McDonald’s the most successful junk food company is because of their marketing and promoting system. The marketing and promoting system that have motivated numerous organizations in the entire world. In any case, perhaps this time, the advertising procedure of McDonald’s is to do the things that haven’t been done before, which is turning the junk food company into a vegetarian company. Even if they don’t change entirely from a junk food company into a vegetarian company, this idea of branching out to a vegetarian company is revolutionary. Becoming the world’s first junk food company that branches out to be a vegetarian company would not be a bad thing. In fact it might be on the Guinness Book of Records. New thoughts or development for a company may become a disaster or a miracle. I hope that McDonald’s will be a more successful food company than before because I think that this branching out to vegetarian idea is revolutionary and the fact that if they are going to place this vegetarian branch world wide, all of the people can eat McDonald’s, whether they are vegan or not.
ReplyDeleteI think McDonald’s decision on opening a vegetarian restaurant in India is a very bizarre decision. I mean why would a fast food restaurant, who serve meat type food, establish a vegetarian restaurant in a country where it’s mostly populated with vegetarians? I myself found this McDonald’s decision to be some sort of a joke. Moreover, I think Andrew Tobert ‘s opinion is quite odd because why would he be happy for McDonald opening a vegetarian restaurant in India? Is he thinking that if McDonald establishes a vegetarian restaurant in India, could they build a vegetarian restaurant elsewhere? If the answer is yes, then I personally think that wouldn’t happen since McDonald is known to serve fast food that consists of meat in its ingredient. Perhaps, they might add a new vegetarian food to the menu besides salad, but opening a new vegetarian restaurant elsewhere is a ridiculous idea. It’s a ridiculous idea to establish a vegetarian restaurant outside of India because not many people will be interested in the idea. Well, let me ask you this, would you trust a fast food restaurant, who serve low-quality food and with fewer nutrients in its product, serve you a very healthy vegetarian food? If I was a vegetarian I wouldn’t trust McDonald to serve me a good vegetarian, considering that they are a fast food restaurant and the fact that there are several issues McDonald have regarding the cleanliness of their workplace.
ReplyDeleteMcDonalds plan to open a vegetarian joint is a plan that’s considered as interesting and intriguing at the same time for me, since it would be a great innovation since there’s no fast food joint that impose that kind of idea. Besides, it would likely increase McD’s revenue since now, not only those meat-eaters are the ones that enjoyed every single dish served in McD, vegetarians and vegans are also able to enjoy McD at a similar experience as others. As quoted above, McD’s going to open their first vegan joint in India, the country where people mostly don’t eat beef so it makes sense that McD’s going to open their joint in india. If it turned out to be a huge success, probably mcd will open the branch globally and will increase their sales highly since nowadays, people started to put concern towards their health and since becoming a vegetarian is one of the act of the expression towards their concern, it would definitely increase mcd’s sales since more people from a varied amount of consumers would purchase the meals from mcd.
ReplyDeleteI think that Mcdonald’s vegetarian restaurant is a very interesting idea. Not only will it benefit the customers, it will benefit the company as well. To be honest even though it is going to be a vegetarian restaurant, mcdonald’s will always do Mcdonald’s thing by putting a preservative on it. People will still think that it is healthy because of the word “Vegetables” and will think that at least they eat vegetables which is better than eating burgers every day. Customers can also eat vegetables without having to cook It themselves and go to the grocery which takes lots of time. Now, they can just call Mc’Donald’s to deliver it to them or just go there and have the food ready for less than 5 minutes. On the company’s sisde, it will attract more customers because there are so many vegetarians who hates “beef” and will not go to mcdonald because of it. Now, McDonald’s can help them through opening a vegetarian restaurant
ReplyDeleteMcdonald’s as a Vegeterian Restaurant? Not sure those two things can exist together. It is an interesting approach on the Indian market, if I may say. Quite simple, for the fact that a lot of Indian people’s faith forbid them from eating meat, especially cow. So, by bringing a new concept of Mcdonald’s as a vegetarian restaurant? Brilliant? We can say yet. Since based from the article, we can clearly see that there are still haters. Well, the restaurant itself is fairly new, so there should be a lot of room to improve upon. Speaking about improvement, one of the things that they can do is finding a way to convince people that Mcdonald’s vegetarian menu are healthy. As we know, the word “vegetarian” and “fast food” don’t really exist in the same context. People will associate fast food as unhealthy food, because one of the factors is the oil. Since fried food is bad for your health. I’m interested in seeing how this goes though.
ReplyDeleteI agree if McDonald’s open their vegetarian restaurant in India. The major religion of India is Hinduism. The respect for cow is part of Hindu belief, and most Hindus avoid meat sourced from cow as cows are treated as a motherly giving animal considered as another member of the family. They don't have the tendency to kill and eat those animals who they worship because cow gives them milk so they address her as a holy mother so they can't kill their mother. Meanwhile McDonald’s sells so many foods with beef meat. And I think it is a good alternative for McDonald’s to open their vegetarian restaurant in India in order to adapts its range to local demand. This can be their opportunity in India. Because if McDonald’s don’t open their vegetarian restaurant, they will have less costumer because Indians usually don’t eat beef. Since the food will be meet-free, India's Hindu majority can now enjoy McDonald’s food.
ReplyDeleteBefore giving any judgements to Kavitha or Andrew’s views, I would like to look into McDonald’s history first. McDonald’s or McDonald’s Corporation in full is an American fast-food chain that is one of the largest in the world, known for its hamburgers. At that time, Mc Donald’s was known for its innovation in the fast food industry; the self-service counter eliminated the need for waiters and waitresses, customers received their food quickly because hamburgers were cooked ahead of time, wrapped, and warmed under heat lamps, and a basic hamburger cost half the price charged by competing restaurants. I always think of chicken when I hear the word McDonalds so I went to McDonalds to check out their menu. Out of 43 meals, 31 of them is chicken based (72%) and only 3 meals (7%) that are vegetarian friendly. Opening a vegetarian McDonalds restaurant is a really bold move, I suspect that it can cause one of two things.
ReplyDeleteIt could cause McDonalds lose its trademark as a fast food restaurant serving chicken based meals or it could give McDonalds a chance to create diversification of its products, a kind of a stepping stone (or a giant leap) for McDonalds. Personally, I think that McDonalds opening a vegetarian friendly restaurant isn’t really profitable because people don’t come to McDonalds for their salad, people come to McDonalds for their chickens and burgers. However, I have a simple question on my head: why would McDonalds open a vegetarian friendly restaurant?
DeleteLastly, I agree to Kavitha Rao. I would rather order a steak than a pasta at a steakhouse. If I was a vegetarian, I would rather go to a restaurant specializing in real vegetarian friendly food. McDonalds could also try to first make new vegetarian meals and then see if the market response is good then it could decide whether to open a new vegetarian friendly restaurant or not.