Mc Donald’s to open vegetarian restaurants in India.








Mc Donald’s to open vegetarian restaurants in India.



On September 4th 2012, Mc Donald’s, the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants announced its decision to open its first vegetarian-only restaurants in India.


As Mc Donald's faces strong competition, the group focuses on offering more food options that cater to local tastes in order to increase sales. Mc Donald’s which mainly sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, French fries and breakfast items is actually preparing to open its vegetarian fast food restaurants in two cities in India.

A Big Mac without meat? It is possible with Mc Donald’s. In response to a change in consumer tastes, the American fast food giant, which is globally known, has had to adapt to the Indian market. It is important to know that beef is not consumed by Hindu people and pork is prohibited in the Islamic diet for religious reasons.
The company which had initially made hamburgers with only chicken in it, had to change its strategy again to adapt to local tastes.
In 1996, its first restaurants opened in India didn’t offer beef in its hamburgers because cows are considered to be sacred animals by the majority of the Indian population so it would never work. Therefore, Mc Donald’s replaced it with lamb. But this was not really a success and the Indian consumers didn’t really appreciate it. Thus, Mc Donald’s decided to remove lamb from its hamburgers.

A new strategy

 For its first completely vegetarian restaurants, Mc Donald’s will offer the same menus it has in its 271 restaurants in India. However, in order to attract a larger public, the firm will need to develop new vegetarian products.
Mc Donald’s is actually not the first multinational to have removed meat from its Indian restaurants. The fast food chain Subway, which counts 280 restaurants in India, has just opened its first completely vegetarian restaurants in a University located in a religious city. And Domino’s Pizza, the most widespread fast food chain has already several restaurants in the country.  
You can find additional information on this topic at:  www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19479013
So can we say that it is another victory for Mc Donald’s in its strategy to expand in the Indian market? In your opinion is Mc Donald’s going to increase its sales thanks to these vegetarian restaurants? I think it is incredible to see what a company is willing to do in order to expand in a particular market.

Vinitha W.

Comments

  1. ngtbusinessblog21 November 2012 at 22:34

    I am actually surprised to learn that Mac Donald's will offer vegetarian menus, it doesn't fit at all with the company! I am not even sure it will work cause Mac Donald's has its image of selling hamburgers with beef (traditionally), everyone knows the famous Big Mac! So it is surprising to see how far it can go to please the hindous market! But isn't it going to hurt its image?
    Chloé B

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    Replies
    1. ngtbusinessblog25 November 2012 at 16:21

      I agree with you on the fact that it doesn't correspond with Mc Donald's image, because as you said, the company is well known for its Big mac and other hamburgers with meat.But on the other hand, I don't think that this will contribute to hurt its image because the company has succeeded to establish itself in every country.To me, Mc Donald's will manage to do so in India especially because of the religious impact without having a tarnished image.

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  2. Unknown24 November 2012 at 07:57

    I think it is quite normal to see McDonald's trying to adapt it strategy to a specific market. Knowing that India represents a significant potential market for them, they should at least try to adapt their products to the country and see if it works out. However, I do agree that it doesn't fit their image and I'm quite doubtful about the success of this strategy. I don't think it will work as people going to McDonal's, even in India, are not looking for vegeterian food.

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  3. Unknown25 November 2012 at 09:05

    I´m also really surprised to learn that. Indeed, we have studied recently the different strategies possible for a company which wants to adapt its products to a country or a culture, but for this case, I don´t see it as an adaptation, but more like a new concept, a new company. McDonald´s without meat isn´t McDonald´s anymore. What´s the next step ? A MacDonald´s organic restaurant ? A MacDonald´s health food restaurant, with no more coke or French fries ? ahah. It may hurt its image but if Mcdonald´s has decided to do it, this is a well-considered decision and it will work.

    Grout M.

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  4. ngtbusinessblog25 November 2012 at 17:03

    I agree with you both.On the one hand, it is true that India, as it is a huge country represents a strong potential for Mc Donald's, but I don't know if it will work. According to my personal knowledge,I think Indian people will favour home made food.So I'm also quite doubtful about this Mc Donald's strategy.
    On the other hand, we can see this strategy as a new concept and not as a will of adaptation but in this case, it doesn't fit anymore with the initial image of Mc Donald's and I think people could be confused.

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