Dream Gone Sour

The McDonalds India Story

My exposure to McDonald restaurants started in 1977-78 when I visited England on a holiday. My cousin Sunjay Vadhera - a graduate from Hamburger University in Illinois, Chicago- took me to MacDonald in Twickenham - where he used to work - for a burger meal.

I loved every thing about the place the burgers, the fries and the shakes. In those days Americans use to say that “most nutritious food is Hamburger, shake and fries. Whatever, wherever McDonald did it become a trailblazer. They selected best portions of beef, lamb and chicken, used the best of ingredients to produce the most amazing food at amazingly low price. Like many millions I loved everything about McDonalds, my hero was Ray Kroc, the Chairman, millionaire entrepreneur and founder of the internationally successful fast food chain McDonald.

Like all hospitality professionals I was enamored and obsessed by Mr.Kroc. His achievements somehow had, a sort of humbling effect on me. I read his biography five times over and later the McDonald’s story ‘BEHIND THE ARCHES’ by John F.Love, a couple of times. Belonging to restaurant industry my singular purpose in life, at that point in time was to bring McDonald to India. In 1984 when I opened the chain of pizza restaurants for Vijay Mallya called McDowell’s PIZZA KING, it was then I wrote many letters to McDonald’s requesting them to visit India. In response, their President even visited and met with my Boss Kisan Mehta at The Oberoi, Delhi, but apparently they were not ready for India – or at least till then.

I moved back to my hotel industry. Many years later McDonald’s finally arrived with its first outlet at Vasant Vihar in New Delhi. Today there are over 150 outlets. Sadly enough the McDonald’s India story is not the same as Europe or the US. It seems that the quality standards laid down by McDonalds for the rest of the world are different for India.

However I will not like to highlight any other strength or weaknesses, baring just one very serious issue as a professional.

“Because a McDonalds burger which has a life of just 10 minutes (after which it is destroyed) can it be sold & delivered even after 30 minutes to the Indian customer…!”

The abovementioned observation is based on the fact that life of a burger is 10 minutes, as per the McDonald’s own researched food parameters, and is confirmed by McDonald on their official website dedicated to all queries; clarifications and information dissemination (Follow the link below). Anyone can post a question or two about product or any other aspect of McDonald. It will be promptly answered.

http://www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk/question-search?key=how%20safe%20is%20the%20food;nh=1#question1

The following question has been reproduced from their website for your immediate reference:

Q. Why is it acceptable for burgers to be kept for up to 10 minutes before being disposed of? If this is considered to be a safe way of handling cooked meat products, are you saying that such products are kept at a constantly high temperature (presumably above 70-75 degrees C) to ensure that they do not deteriorate, and are therefore 'piping hot' when served and eaten immediately? Also, can you please reassure me that your products are adequately cooked by saying how long they are cooked for?

A: Food safety is an area that is rigorously assessed by independent auditors and these standards are outlined in the Food Safety Regulations. These stipulate that it is acceptable for food to be held for up to two hours at room temperature prior to being sold. McDonald's procedures are much more stringent for all its food items: for example, the company insists that burgers are kept at a temperature between 63 and 66 degrees centigrade for a maximum 10 minutes after which it is discarded. The cooking equipment and technology is bespoke to McDonald's and takes into account the company's requirements. Every menu item again has a tightly defined cooking procedure that should ensure that each order is delivered in perfect condition to the customer. For example, the regular Hamburger is cooked for less than a minute from frozen on the specially designed double sided hot plate and reaches a cooking temperature of 70 degrees centigrade. You can rest assured that the whole kitchen process and equipment along side the training programmers’ for staff are all focused on ensuring the best quality food is delivered in the shortest service time possible. (December 2006)

Abroad the same McDonald’s logic of freshness applies when it comes to home delivery of a burger. And I quote from the website:

Follow the link below:

http://www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk/question-search?key=delivery;nh=2

“Q. Why don’t you start a delivery system?

A. Many factors have to be taken into account to provide a delivery service, for example the length of time taken for the staff to reach their destinations to ensure hot fresh food in the quickest time. As a company, McDonald's feels that it could not adequately meet these goals at the present time.”

If all the above is true, the obvious question that raids my mind is that which new technology and ingredients are being used in India to extend life of the burger- For logically it just cannot be same, as it is for the rest of the world. It is even more difficult to appreciate the fact that in India, McDonalds are doing home delivery as well - though from select outlets and interestingly enough the delivery time is 30 minutes- A phenomenon that is quite reasonably intriguing and is important to understand, if nothing, at least we will all be a little wiser, hereinafter.

It is important to ‘know and demand’ quality, otherwise we will never be able to enjoy a true hamburger and we will keep gobbling down the modified Indian version of the McDonald burger at our own risk & consequence. Best Wishes dear friends.

Written by: Anil Chak & Virat Varma