Left photo. (From L-R:) McDonald’s PH President and CEO Kenneth S. Yang, McDonald’s Corporation Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski and McDonald’s PH Master Franchise Holder and Chairman, Dr. George T. Yang at the 2022 McDonald’s Worldwide Convention in Orlando, Florida
Right photo. McDonald’s new store in Hermosa, Bataan
With the Philippine economy on the rise, McDonald’s Philippines, majority owned and controlled by Dr. George T. Yang (Chairman & Founder) and Kenneth Yang (President & CEO), is positioned for sustainable development and recovery in 2022.
Despite the Omicron rise in January, McDonald’s remained resilient and maintained its recovery pace in the first quarter of 2022. With its safe, excellent cuisine, innovative services, focus on assisting its employees and communities in need, and being a partner of the government in navigating through the epidemic, it maintained its commitment to being a trusted partner of the Filipino community.
“We’ve overcome the challenges of the past 2 years because of strategic investments on innovations we made before the pandemic, which enabled us to serve a safe and frictionless omni-channel experience for our customers. We are confident that this will continue to drive our growth in 2022.” says President & CEO Kenneth Yang.
McDonald’s Philippines saw double-digit sales increase of 29 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, thanks to strong same-store sales growth of 22 percent. In comparison to 2019, the company has accomplished 100% of its sales recovery plan.
“With the ease of restrictions that enabled consumer mobility and confidence, we’re very happy to welcome back more of our customers in our stores.” Yang added. Dine-in sales experienced a double-digit increase from February to March of this year and continued to pick up in April as more areas shifted to lower Alert Levels and election campaigns were in full swing.
Drive-thru and delivery continued to perform well in March, with both generating double-digit sales and visitor numbers. The company’s commitment to roll out cashless solutions has facilitated growth across all channels. To far, 86 percent of the company’s stores are cashless.
Robust momentum towards growth
McDonald’s kept its focus on improving the quality and safety of its food and service across all customer channels. It was underscored with initiatives that the company implemented in support of its employees, owner operators and partners.
To ensure safe restaurant operations throughout the pandemic, McDonald’s launched the M Safe program in 2020. According to the company, the principle of M Safe is that if their employees are safe, they will keep customers safe.
Aside from compliance with all government mandated health and safety protocols, McDonald’s rolled out its employee vaccination program with education initiatives and providing access to the vaccines. 100% of its crew and managers have been fully vaccinated, while 70% of NCR employees and 50% of employees outside NCR have already been boosted.
“Nothing is more important to us than people—our customers, our crew, and managers. It is an imperative to have safety programs in place consistently. Keeping our people safe allows us to serve a better customer experience,” said Yang.
McDonald’s has also remained a committed partner in creating a positive difference in communities where they operate.
McDonald’s Philippines through its charity of choice, supports Ronald McDonald House Charities Philippines’ (RMHC) Kindness Kitchen initiative. The Kindness Kitchen began in 2020 where the charity served McDonald’s meals to frontliners and indigent communities. It has served over 700,000 hot meals and continues to do so today.
The company has also been an active partner of the government in navigating the pandemic through a private and public consortium, Task Force T3. It provided support to its Ingat Angat campaigns that aimed to drive awareness on health and safety protocols, importance of vaccination, and building consumer confidence as the country transitions into COVID-19 as an endemic.
Furthermore, McDonald’s takes a step in doing better for the environment with sustainable restaurant innovations through its Green & Good platform. The company opened its first full Green & Good store in the country in 2021, a store designed using green construction and utility efficient solutions with bike-friendly features to meet the needs of cyclists like a Bike & Dine space and a Bike Repair Station.
The company is set to open more new stores this year that are equipped with Green & Good solutions like solar rooftops, and grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, which are both cost-effective and efficient in the reduction of emissions.
Another environmentally sustainable initiative McDonald’s Philippines has introduced this year is its use of strawless lids. The strawless lids allow for less waste to be consumed for its iced drinks.
The McDonald’s Flagship Green and Good Store in Mandaluyong is the first McDonald’s store in the country designed using green construction and utility efficient solutions with bike-friendly features to meet the needs of cyclists.
All set for a strong sustainable recovery
McDonald’s ended 2021 with a 671-store base, opening 36 new stores. With every new McDonald’s store that opens, the company provides employment opportunities with its direct hiring practice, which has been in place since 1981. With direct hiring, even part-time students are given equal opportunities because of a flexible work schedule, allowing them to fulfill their academic requirements while earning.
“With over 40,000 employees systemwide, we will remain committed to working with different stakeholders for our shared goal of the country’s full economic recovery. As McDonald’s continues its growth path in 2022, we will be steadfast in our pursuit of sustainable development, employment and community building with even more vigor,” concludes Mr. Yang.
