McDonald’s Announces Aggressive Four-Year Growth Plan

At a recent day-long investor conference, McDonald’s revealed its aggressive expansion plans for the next four years. According to a statement issued by the fast-food giant, this will be McDonald’s “fastest period of growth” since it began selling franchises in 1955.

The company is looking to grow its number of restaurants from its current 41,200 to 50,000 by 2027, including:

• 900 new locations in the U.S.
• 1,900 new locations in current international markets (including Canada, France, and Australia)
• 7,000 new locations in international licensed markets (including China)

While this goal is ambitious, McDonald’s chief customer officer Manu Steijaert is confident it can be achieved. During the conference, Steijaert pointed out that it took 33 years for McDonald’s to open its first 10,000 restaurants, but only 18 years to grow the brand from 30,000 to 40,000.

CosMc’s Takes Aim at Starbucks and Dunkin’

According to the report from Associated Press, McDonald’s will be rolling out 10 of its CosMc’s restaurants in the first half of 2024 as a part of its expansion efforts, with one opening near the company’s headquarters in Chicago and the rest in Texas. CosMc’s, McDonald’s drive-thru only concept, has no dining room and offers customizable beverages (including frappes, slushes, and lattes) along with snack items. It was designed to compete with coffee shops like Starbucks and Dunkin’ by appealing to afternoon snackers (when sales decline at most McDonald’s restaurants).

“This is a $100 billion category that’s growing faster than the rest of [casual dining] and with superior margins,” said McDonald’s CEO and President Chris Kempczinski. “And it’s a space that we believe we have a right to win.”

Collaboration with Google Cloud

McDonald’s also announced a multi-year partnership with Alphabet’s Google Cloud, with plans to use artificial intelligence to improve restaurant operations. According to Kempczinski, moving computations to the cloud, rather than relying on slower servers, will speed up actions like menu recommendations on kiosks and in drive-thru lanes. It will also help managers to optimize staffing by spotting bottlenecks and recommending additional workers when needed.

Read the official statement from McDonald's here.

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