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Cape Town - Global fast food giant McDonald's is celebrating its 20th anniversary in South Africa today (Wednesday, November 11).
On average about 20 new McDonald's restaurants have opened in SA each year and there are currently 234 in the country.
Greg Solomon, CEO of McDonald's South Africa, told Fin24 he is proud of the many highlights the company has had in the SA market. These include initiating the drive through ("drive thru") restaurant concept in the country, operating 24/7 and introducing a hand-held breakfast. Today hand-held breakfasts make up 11% of the company's business in SA.
Currently McDonald's SA serves just under eight million customers monthly. The company employs 11 500 people in SA.
Solomon is also happy with the delivery service - McDelivery (MDS) launched last year. "Although we were not the first to introduce a delivery service, we follow the belief that if you are not the first, then you have to be the best. The delivery service is already a significant part of our business," he said.
Menu innovation is another key element for Solomon.
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"We will always seek innovation and use the customer as the generator for change," explained Solomon.
Although the main source of business is beef, about 30% of the business in SA is actually chicken, according to Solomon.
"It is all about giving the customer choice. Yes, we have great tasting food, but I believe our competitive advantage lies in our great service," he said.
As for future plans, Solomon said they are certainly "not taking the foot off the pedal".
"We are growing nice and steadily and our next goal would be to reach 300 restaurants in SA. Then we will reset that goal even higher," he said.
"We see the potential in SA. Roughly 60% of our growth will be in large urban areas, but we expect a substantial part of our growth to come from rural areas. We believe we have so far under-penetrated this market."
Solomon said he is also proud of the charity involvement of the company. This includes two family rooms at the Baragwanath Hospital, raising of funds for the Nelson Mandela Hospital and having over 326 400 children reached via the McDonald’s Under 14 Schools League - a 2010 Fifa World Cup legacy project.
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