Offering value for money enabled McDonald's to increase its sales in 2009
While the world sank into the depths of the recession, McDonald's restaurants in New Zealand were quietly churning out more burgers and fries than ever.
Mark Hawthorne, managing director of McDonald's New Zealand, said 2009 was the company's best year ever in terms of sales.
Restaurant Brands New Zealand - owners of KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks - also had a successful 2009, more than doubling their share price as the year progressed, proving that fast food can make a quick buck when the economy takes a dive.
Globally, McDonald's and Subway were the only fast food chains to show year-on-year growth through the financial crisis, Hawthorne said.
McDonald's spent more than $145 million buying goods from local suppliers in 2009 - up $25 million on the year before, mostly due to increased sales.
He said McDonald's had been seeing strong growth in New Zealand in the two years prior to the financial crises, and the company used that time to improve its brand.
"Getting the brand into a very strong position allowed us to become the lowest-priced fast food option, but also on the back of all the other things we did, the best value for money."
He said the recession caused some "trade down" - people dining at McDonald's who might not have done so before the downturn.
"I think we created an environment that made it a lot more [attractive] for people to actually transfer their business to us."
Hawthorne said the implementation of McDonald's gourmet range of Angus burgers, premium chicken burgers and rolls had been a great success, and the company had "evolved" from its core "Big Mac and fries" market.
"The Angus range did really well in the rural centres such as Palmerston North, Hawera and Wanganui," he added.
Much of the growth came from McDonald's new restaurants - 10 of which were opened last year as part of the company's three-year capital investment programme that will see $300 million invested, Hawthorne said.
He said the company was on track to open 10 new restaurants this year, the first being in Richmond, Nelson, next week.
"We're now in our second year of expansion and the fact that we have access to cheaper land because of the global financial crises, and the fact interest rates have been a lot lower, has made a great spot for us to open some new restaurants."
He said McDonald's had spent the three years prior to the recession struggling to find enough workers, but those employment issues had faded with the downturn.
But he said the downside of higher unemployment was that people had less disposable income to spend in McDonald's restaurants.
"It's a double-edged sword."
On a global scale, McDonald's Corporation comparable sales were up in January 2010 by 4.3 per cent in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
However, sales were down by 0.7 per cent in the United States, although the corporation noted in a press release that this figure still "outpaced" the rest of the American fast food industry.
The New York Times last year quoted McDonald's Corporation's chief executive, James Skinner, saying: "We continue to be recession-resistant."
