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Friday, July 18, 2008
Will McDonald’s replace Starbucks as the coffeehouse king?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fast food restaurants have been trying to upgrade their coffee in recent years, with mixed success. Some restaurants definitely offer a better cup; some don’t seem that much different than the inexpensive, stale brew they’ve always served. Almost all of the chains have focused on breakfast service.
Not McDonald’s. The hamburger giant is slowly adding McCafe units to most of its restaurants, adding espresso-based drinks to a menu better known for Big Macs and Happy Meals. A couple of years ago McDonald’s revamped its standard coffee, renaming it Premium Roast Coffee and pledging to throw out brewed coffee after 30 minutes. Last year it rolled out iced coffee.
Now the next step, the McCafes, are showing up in Atlanta. About 10 stores have them so far, offering coffeehouse-style treats like iced mochas and caramel lattes, as well as hot standards like cappucinos and lattes. Prices are a little lower than you’d pay for a similar drink at Starbucks, and the names are more user friendly — small, medium and large, not tall, grande and venti. (Starbucks, by the way, is preparing to close 600 stores nationally, including a handful in metro Atlanta. You can read more about the local closings in this AJC article.)
I tried an Iced Mocha today at a company-owned store on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth, just west of I-85 and across the street from Gwinnett Place Mall. Topped with whipped cream and a dusting of chocolate, with enough caffeine to banish any afternoon blahs, it’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of these types of drinks. A store across from Perimeter Mall also offers the McCafe drinks, and so do a few other restaurants around metro Atlanta. By the end of the year, most area McDonald’s should offer them, Ken White of McDonald’s told me this afternoon.
It’s an interesting change from the first McCafe I visited, a prototype in a Chicago restaurant several years ago. There, the coffee came in large mugs and drinkers lounged at quiet booths on the second floor of the restaurant. The Duluth store has one quiet nook, but otherwise it’s a bustling place, with the parking lot full even after the lunch hour peak, and the coffee served in disposable cups.
By adding the McCafes, McDonald’s hopes to convince its regular customers to increase their visits, or to bump up their check total by adding an espresso-based drink. The chain also reaching out to others who might be skeptical about Mickey D’s turning into a coffeehouse, complete with a more upcale feel that may include Wi-Fi, stacked-stone columns, brushed stainless steel and lots of blond wood. Kind of like, well …
Have you tried any of the McCafe espresso-based drinks? If you haven’t, would you go to McDonald’s for this type of drink, or stick to your favorite coffeehouse?
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