OAK BROOK Ill. McDonald’s is considering the addition of more fruit and vegetable side dishes to its menu as a way of appealing to more health-conscious consumers, parent company McDonald’s Corp. told reporters at the company’s annual shareholder meeting here on Thursday.
The quick-service giant also revealed that it should complete a systemwide rollout of trans-fat-free frying oil within a year. The speed of the rollout would depend on the harvest and processing of plants already being grown specifically for the chain in North and South America, said chief financial officer Matthew Paull. The oil is now in use in 3,500 domestic restaurants, he noted.
Indicating that it would dip into its strong cash flow, McDonald's said it would allocate most of its development capital during the next year to markets with significant growth potential, including China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Chief executive Jim Skinner repeated an earlier announcement that McDonald’s plans to spend $1.9 billion to open 800 restaurants and re-image 2,000 others this year. The net increase in stores would total about 400, with about an equal number of older, under-performing units expected to close during the same time-frame, the company indicated.
Skinner said he expects unit growth to accelerate to about 1.25 percent, compared to a range of .9 percent to 1 percent in the last few years. In China alone, plans are to open 100 this year, and half of those will have drive-thrus, Paull said during a post-meeting news conference. Some 20 units have opened in China so far this year.
Officials indicated that they are continuing to test a flurry of new products, including sweet tea, smoothies and one-third-pound Angus burgers. They also indicated that McDonald's is interested in adding more healthful items because of the success of its entree salads and the apple slices and carrot sticks it now offers as sides, according to press coverage of the meeting. Those reports said officials discounted the possibility of adding more fruits and vegetables as entrees, but acknowledged that more side dishes are a possibility.
McDonald's previously said it would have a new fryer oil ready for use in its New York City units by July 1, when a trans-fat ban for restaurants goes into effect
