McDonald's rolled out a "rice-based" menu in China in a bid to increase sales, however, it appears customers are not reacting so well to the new product line.
McDonald's authorized franchises in China in August 2011. It currently operates 1,700 restaurants in China and plans to increase the number to 2,000 by the end of this year, where about 10% are franchises.
Separately, McDonald's said earlier this week that its global SSS was up 2.6% in May but the growth in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions was tepid at 0.9%. Although it didn't break release data for China, McDonald's blamed the bird flu for the slowdown.
The Financial Times' BeyondBrics blog has collected some of the online reactions to the menu, and they don't seem favorable. Here's one representative review:
"I tried McDonald's rice for the first time and it was truly disappointing. It not only looked terrible but it was too small: it cost Rmb20 for just a thin layer of rice with four thin beef cutlets and terrible vegetables." Another customer complained that there was no chopsticks.
The rice meal includes a "five color tender chicken rice wrap" which costs Rmb16 ($2.61), the same wrap with beef for Rmb18 ($2.94), a "secret recipe" chicken and rice dish for Rmb18 ($2.94) and baked beef and rice for Rmb20 ($3.26).
