McDonald’s offering bargain Big Macs as it celebrates 50 years in Australia

McDonald’s will be celebrating 50 years operating in Australia with massively discounted Big Macs this Friday, followed by a range of special promotions over the next three months.

McDonald’s will cut the price of a Big Mac to just 50c this Friday, as it celebrates 50 years of operation in Australia.

The company, launched by founder Ray Kroc in Des Plaines Illinois in 1955, opened its first site in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona in 1971, and has now grown to more than 1000 sites nationally.

McDonald’s Australia chief executive Andrew Gregory has himself been on board for 25 years of the company’s five decades in Australia, and says there is a lot to celebrate.

“It’s a chance for us to say thank you to our customers for supporting us through all of this time and also thanks to our franchisees and employees.

“On Friday we’ve got the opportunity for customers to buy a Big Mac for 50c if they use the mymacca’s app.

“Then over the next couple of months we’ve got a whole range of different promotions celebrating our core menu, and also teaming up with some iconic brands in Australia to produce a whole bunch of different limited edition collectibles during this time.

“You’ll see them come out over the next 10 to 12 weeks.’’

McDonald’s chief executive Andrew Gregory is himself a Macca’s veteran, with 25 years at the company, starting out on the floor.

Mr Gregory said McDonald’s Australia had been an innovator within the global firm, with the first McCafe in the world opened in Melbourne in 1993.

“Australians really do prefer, or demand espresso, barista-made coffee and McCafe for us was an opportunity to really listen to our customers and give them the product that they want.’’

McDonald’s had previously sold American-style brewed coffee in Australia, which sold reasonably well. But McCafe had now become the gold standard for Macca’s around the world, Mr Gregory said, with more than 900 outlets in Australia.

“It’s now the way that the McDonald’s business, across the 100 or so markets, sells coffee.’’

Mr Gregory said McDonald’s had also pioneered the use of drive-through outlets in Australia, which were now widespread.

McDonald's founder Ray Kroc with a giant hamburger.

“Another one, which happened in the late 80s was the introduction of breakfast at McDonald’s, which was something we stole from the US.

“At the time – it’s completely different now – but at the time the idea of Australians eating breakfast out of home wasn’t something that happened normally and it’s another example of McDonalds in Australia having an important impact on the community.’’

Mr Gregory said McDonald’s had injected more than $9bn into the Australian agriculture sector over the past 50 years, with all of its beef, chicken, potatoes, wheat flour, lettuce and tomatoes locally-sourced.

McDonald’s is planning to open 100 new restaurants in Australia over the next three years, and will invest more than $600m across new and existing sites, the company said.

About 85 per cent of McDonald’s outlets are owned by its 245 franchisees with the rest owned by the company.

McStats

• Australia’s first McDonald’s was opened in the Sydney suburb of Yangoona
• the company now employs more than 107,000 people in Australia across more than 1000 sites
• over 50 years McDonalds has sold more than 1.9 billion cheeseburgers and 1.1 billion Big Macs
• The first McCafe in the world was opened in Melbourne in 1993. There are now 906 across Australia.
• McDonald’s has hosted more than 700,000 birthday parties in Australia
• Since 2017, McDonald’s has made more than 54 million deliveries across Australia

Originally published as McDonald’s offering bargain Big Macs as it celebrates 50 years in Australia