McD's DIY burger service for Masterton

HUNGRY WORK: McDonald's Masterton chef Narinda Handa (left) with a takeaway 'Create Your Taste' burger meal and Swastika Naicker, second assistant manager, with an eat-in 'Create Your Taste', a new dining experience being offered to customers.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Lovers of McDonald's can get their teeth into a new skill - being able to design their own gourmet burgers.

McDonald's Masterton has introduced 'Create Your Taste' (CYT) - a fresh dining experience that has led to eight new jobs being established.

Owner of the Chapel St franchise Sitendra Singh has invested more than $150,000 into the restaurant to enable the service, which started on Wednesday.

He said the new innovation would see a more "customised" style service that offered people more choice, faster service with "efficient" new technology and table service.

Using digital kiosks, customers can build their own burgers, selecting the type of bun, sauces and salads, and add extras like pineapple, egg, bacon, grilled mushrooms and guacamole.

A virtual version of the customer's burger appears on the kiosk as they build it.

CYT burgers start at $10.90.

The launch is part of a national rollout following successful trials of the Create Your Taste experience.

Mr Singh, who has owned and operated McDonald's Masterton for four years, has employed eight new staff, taking the total number employed in his restaurant to 70.

The new staff were being trained as "hosts" who would greet customers at the door, help with the ordering process and then see customers to a table, where the food would be delivered.

Mr Singh said it was "providing an experience where they were treated more like guests than fast food customers".

People taking CYT orders away would be given "a fancy take away bag" with hot and cold food items separated.

Mr Singh was looking forward to hearing what Wairarapa people thought of both the food and the new service experience.

"The other advantage of having four kiosks is people can walk in and order anything off the menu - it doesn't have to be a CYT."

He said people who wouldn't necessarily come to McDonald's may think twice about dining there with the new CYT option.

"It's definitely going to create a lot more interest," Mr Singh said. "The feedback from other restaurants has been really positive, with people being pleasantly surprised at how well our burgers stack-up against other gourmet burgers on the market."