Success of posh burgers are leading to a big Maccas growth

THE fast food giant has confounded expectations with a sales surge. But the bosses in the US have a lot to thank Australia for.

INNOVATIONS fast food giant McDonald’s road tested in Australia have proved so popular they’re being cited as one of the key reasons behind a startling turnaround in the company’s global fortunes.

After suffering falling sales, the US chain announced on Tuesday that in the six months to the end of June sales shot up by 6.6 per cent in established stores globally and 3.9 per cent in its home market.

The US result was the company’s best for five years while the UK, Canada, Germany and China were also standout markets.

The company’s sales have surged globally. Picture: AFP.

It’s not healthy options like salads that are exciting people, nor is it the Big Mac special sauce. It’s actually a bunch of new posh burgers, many of which made an early appearance in Australia, that everyone’s devouring.

The country has long been a global test bed for Macca’s with products and new store features, such as self-serve kiosks, appearing in Australia long before being rolled out elsewhere.

“We’re building a better McDonald’s and more customers are noticing,” chief executive Steve Easterbrook, the company’s British born CEO, said on Tuesday.

Since taking over two years ago, Mr Easterbrook has launched new products, such as all day breakfasts and auto ordering booths across many of its key global markets.

He said cheap soft drinks in the US coupled with the roll out of a “Signature Crafted” premium burger range had attracted customers back through the doors.

Create Your Taste burgers took off in Australia before much of the rest of the world experienced them. Picture: Jason Edwards

In 2014, McDonald’s introduced its Create Your Taste burgers range at a single store in Sydney’s Hills District.

The range allowed customers to mix and match proteins, buns, dressings and different cheeses.

The restaurant also introduced table service and served the personalised burgers on hipster style boards and the chips in mini frying baskets.

The concept has since gone worldwide.

In the early 2000s, McDonald’s was rocked by the increasing focus on food nutrition.

This culminated in the 2004 film Super Size Me which detailed the dramatic effect on director Morgan Spurlock as he ate only Macca’s food for an entire month.

Isabelle Szmigin, a marketing expert at the UK’s Birmingham University said the company had learned that simply offering healthy options alone was not going to turn its fortunes around.

“Rather than trying to introduce items that are low calorie in nature, it could be better off ensuring that its burgers are better quality.

“People are prepared to splurge the extra calories and dollar on a good fast food experience now and again,” she wrote in The Conversation.

Widening the range away from burgers had also confused customers, she said.

One of the biggest success to come out of Australia has been the McCafe concept offering flat whites and cappuccinos alongside brownies and croissants.

The world’s first McCafe opened in Melbourne, Victoria in 1993 and has also gone global.

But one of the company’s Australian innovations had a rocky reception when it was launched in 2016.

A Loaded Fries only store in Sydney did not go down well with locals. Picture: Toby Zerna

Loaded Fries, chips smothered in various sauces, was first sold in a pop up restaurant, called ‘Fries With That’, in Sydney’s inner city suburb of Glebe.

But locals, clearly no fans of the golden arches, took umbrage with their new neighbour.

“Glebe has a wonderful cafe culture. Opening a McDonalds, under any name and in any form, will take business away from that village community,” a petition distributed by residents said.

“We all know that most of your food is bad quality (no matter how much you pretend otherwise) — high in fat, high in sugar, made with poorly sourced ingredients.”

The store has since closed. But the fries themselves have been a success and have now landed in the US a year later.

Macca’s seems to like trying new things in Sydney’s inner west. In 2014, it opened a branch bereft of almost any mention of the company.

McDonald’s “The Corner” cafe in Sydney only had minimal Macca’s branding. Picture: Toby Zerna

At The Corner cafe, adjacent to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, you won’t find nuggets, McFlurrys or a smiling Ronald McDonald.

Rather, Lebanese lentils, tomato basil soup and chipotle pulled pork all washed down with a balsamic strawberry craft soda are on the menu board.

The company likened it to a McCafe but supersized with added sides.

“If they’re looking for a Quarter Pounder they’ll probably be sorely disappointed,” the manger Kyle Jarvis told news.com.au at the time.

“It’s a new concept for us, it’s a learning lab where we test the things that Macca’s has never done before and push the boundaries of what we can do in a cafe environment.”

McDonald’s isn’t the only brand using Australia to float new ideas. KFC opened a new concept store in Parramatta under the name KFC Urban in 2015.

The company even applied for a liquor licence so hungry locals could wash down their chicken with a schooner of beer.

The experiment backfired, however, and it closed that same year.

Red Rooster stores are also getting makeovers. Picture: Michael Chambers/The Photo Pitch

Australian chain Red Rooster has also been experimenting with new concept stores to win round picky consumers who are looking for more salubrious surroundings than takeaway outlets with strip lighting and wipe clean plastic tables.

The big changes at the majors comes as a range of more up-market fast food brands, such as Grill’d and Bells chicken, try and tempt people away for the established chains.