mcdonalds Archives - Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer

Cuisine de France parent returns to profit following restructuring

Linda Stewart — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 09:48:20 +0000

Swiss-Irish baking group Aryzta moved into profit last year following significant restructuring of the business, according to the company’s annual report.

The group, which owns the Cuisine de France brand here and supplies the likes of McDonald’s and Subway, published its report and results for the year ended July 30th, 2022, on Monday.

It shows the group made an overall profit of €900,000 for the period, which was a turnaround from a loss of €235.8 million the year before.

“This reflected the benefits of the significant changes and reorganisations made over the past two years to reduce costs, simplify the organisation structure and focus on profitable organic growth,” the group said.

“The strong performance was achieved against a backdrop of supply chain disruption and significantly higher cost inflation especially energy.”

Total revenue increased by 15.1 per cent to €1.8 billion, with businesses accounting for 60 per cent of group revenue, exceeding pre-Covid revenue levels at constant currency.

Group organic revenue growth of 17.9 per cent, was driven by strong volume growth of 12 per cent supported by price/mix growth of 5.9 per cent.

On a regional basis Aryzta Europe revenue increased with an organic growth of 19.3 per cent. Aryzta Rest of World organic revenue increased by 10.5 per cent. All channels performed strongly achieving double digit organic growth.

However, the group cautioned that “significant inflation challenges remain” as war, supply chain disruptions and elevated demand drive inflation across all inputs. “Little respite in these trends is expected in the near term and further price increases are expected,” it said.

Aryzta chairman and interim chief executive, Urs Jordi, said he expected the company’s performance to improve further in the coming year.

“I am pleased to report that Aryzta has achieved an underlying net profit of €45.6 million in 2022, the first profit for many years,” he said. “This reflects the benefits of the significant business performance acceleration and structural and operational changes undertaken.

“The consolidation of our business model has significantly progressed and we are improving on all levers of value creation. This has supported the significant improvements in our financial position during the past year.

“Aryzta has lower total net debt. While being in the middle of a challenging period of cost inflation, nevertheless, we expect to report further improvements in our performance in full year 2023.”

The Aryzta board also announced Mr Jordi has agreed to continue as interim CEO of the group until December 31st, 2024, when the board will have selected a permanent candidate for the role.

“The board extends its appreciation to the chairman for agreeing to continue with the dual mandate,” it said.

In terms of outlook, Aryzta said current trading trends “remain unchanged despite the challenging macro environment and the recently published mid-term guidance for the period 2023-2025 is reiterated”.

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Cost of McDonald’s cheeseburger rises to €1.70

Linda Stewart — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 09:41:38 +0000

McDonald’s Ireland has confirmed that it has increased the price of a number of items on its menus, with the cost of a cheeseburger rising from €1.50 to €1.70.

The company said: “Since we opened in Ireland in 1977, we have committed to offering great tasting food at affordable prices, and that commitment will not change. But, today’s pressures mean, like many, we are having to make some tough choices about our prices.

“This summer, our restaurants will be increasing prices on a number of menu items which have been impacted most by inflation.”

McDonald’s Ireland said some prices remain unaffected, and some will continue to vary across its restaurants.

“We understand that any price increases are not good news, but we have delayed and minimised these changes for as long as we could,” the company added.

In the UK, McDonald’s is also hiking the price of its cheeseburger for the first time in 14 years as the fast-food giant passes the effect of soaring costs onto customers.

The company told UK customers that it is lifting the price of a cheeseburger from 99p to £1.19.

McDonald’s said that it is increasing the price of “menu items impacted most by inflation” by between 10p and 20p.

However, it also stressed some products will be unaffected and others will vary across the UK as some prices can be altered by franchisees.

McDonald’s UK & Ireland chief executive officer Alistair Macrow said the increases are needed to help the business cope “through incredibly challenging times”.

“Just like you, our company, our franchisees who own and operate our restaurants, and our suppliers are all feeling the impact of rising inflation,” he said in an email to customers.

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Freddie Flintoff teams up with McDonald’s to promote 6ft bins

Linda Stewart — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 09:52:40 +0000

Cricketing legend Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff has teamed up with McDonald’s to promote a range of litter bins aimed at truck drivers.

McDonald’s is partnering with Roadchef motorway services to roll out a range of litter bins which are more than six foot tall and designed to be within easy reach for truck drivers.

The bins have been designed to combat roadside littering and are ‘cab height’ to make it easier for truck, lorry and HGV drivers to pop their litter in when stopping off at service stations.

In total, 52 two metre tall bins will be rolled out across the country at 30 Roadchef service stations over the summer.

Flintoff, who now presents TV car series Top Gear, was among the first to test out the bins – on behalf of the drivers of tall vehicles who they have been created for.

“I look forward to seeing the bins rolled out when I’m on the road. It’s in everyone’s interest to be more responsible and accountable when it comes to littering – and this new partnership between McDonald’s and Roadchef offers an easy way for anyone driving a taller vehicle to do so – now there’s no reason to drop the ball by littering.”

Louise Page, McDonald’s UK & Ireland’s Head of Consumer Communication & Partnerships, said: “Littering is socially unacceptable and for 40 years our restaurant teams have walked miles across the UK and Ireland each week, collecting other people’s discarded litter.

“But there is still work to be done and we are committed to finding innovative ways to make it easier than ever before to keep our communities clean.

“Our partnership with Roadchef is a perfect example of how changing the way drivers dispose of their litter by creating bins perfect for their vehicle height. We believe this truly will make a huge difference to motorway litter and road safety.”

Head of Marketing for Roadchef, Amanda Mason, added: “We’re thrilled to have partnered with McDonald’s UK to create this run of bins to help combat roadside littering up and down the country. Making it easier for lorry drivers to dispose of their litter will help reduce the amount that ends up on the UK’s motorways – which can be a danger to other road users as well as damaging to the environment .

“Together with McDonald’s UK, we’re on a mission to help people be more responsible with their litter and hopefully this initiative is another step towards that for us all.”

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Nestle, Imperial and Philip Morris join moves away from Russia

Linda Stewart — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 09:44:02 +0000

Nestle, Philip Morris, and video gamemaker Sony have joined the list of multinationals stepping back from Russia following the Ukraine invasion.

Nestle, the world’s biggest packaged foods group, and Mondelez International followed actions by rivals Procter & Gamble and Unilever in halting investment in Russia.

The four companies will continue providing essentials, with Mondelez aiming to help to maintain “continuity” of the Russian food supply.

Cigarette maker Imperial Brands suspended operations in Russia, but rival Philip Morris said it would scale down manufacturing.

Camel maker British American Tobacco said its business in Russia continues to operate, even though it has suspended capital investment.

Sony, whose movie studio has already stopped releases in Russia, says its PlayStation gaming unit would stop shipments and operations in Russia.

“Sony Interactive Entertainment joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” it said.

Many businesses face difficulty working in Russia due to sanctions and a lack of shipping, in addition to pressure from consumers and investors, and describe ending work in Russia in more practical terms, without blaming the Russian government for attacking Ukraine.

Heavy equipment maker Deere & Co, saying it was “deeply saddened by the significant escalation of events in Ukraine,” announced it had ended shipments to Russia two weeks ago, and subsequently to Belarus. It said it would follow US and international sanctions.

Caterpillar said it was suspending business as supply chain disruptions and sanctions made business difficult and 3M followed suit after reassessing its business in Russia.

Rio Tinto has announced it is terminating all commercial relationships with Russian businesses, and hotel companies Hilton Worldwide Holdings and Hyatt Hotels said they would suspend development in Russia.

Coca-Cola and McDonald’s halted sales in Russia on Tuesday. McDonald’s said the temporary closure of its 847 stores in the country would cost it $50m a month.

Yum Brands, parent of fried chicken giant KFC, said it was pausing investments in Russia, a market that helped it achieve record development last year.

Carlsberg said it was suspending Russian brewing of its namesake brand of beer while keeping its Russian Baltika brand operating.

“We feel a moral obligation to our Russian colleagues who are an integral part of Carlsberg, and who are not responsible for the actions of the Government,” Carlsberg said, adding it was withdrawing financial guidance for the year.

In response to the exodus, Andrei Turchak, secretary of the ruling United Russia party’s general council, warned Moscow might nationalise idled foreign assets.

“United Russia proposes nationalising production plants of the companies that announce their exit and the closure of production in Russia during the special operation in Ukraine,” Turchak wrote in a statement published on the party’s website.

“We will take tough retaliatory measures, acting in accordance with the laws of war,” Turchak said.

While the war in Ukraine and the sanctions have bolstered prices for commodities that Russia exports such as oil, natural gas and titanium, those sanctions have largely barred Moscow from taking advantage of the high prices.

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McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Starbucks suspend operations in Russia

Linda Stewart — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 10:33:37 +0000

McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Starbucks have halted sales of their best-known products in Russia. All four companies have major operations in Russia.

McDonald’s said it would go on paying salaries to its 62,000 employees in Russia as it closed 847 restaurants.

Its first location to open in Russia, in central Moscow’s Pushkin Square in 1990, became a symbol of flourishing American capitalism as the Soviet Union fell.

Coca-Cola Co said it will suspend its business there. Coca-Cola was the official drink of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, despite the United States boycotting the event in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Starbucks Corp is temporarily closing hundreds of stores. The company said that its partner, Alshaya Group, which operates at least 100 cafes in Russia, will “provide support to nearly 2,000 partners in Russia who depend on Starbucks for their livelihood”.

Pepsi Co Inc will suspend all advertising in Russia and stop the sale of its drinks brands, while continuing to sell essentials such as milk and baby food.

Scores of other companies also have rebuked Russia, and Amazon.com Inc said it would stop accepting new customers for its cloud services in Russia and Ukraine.

Universal Music suspended all operations in Russia and online dating service Bumble Inc will remove its apps from stores in Russia and Belarus.

Earlier, Royal Dutch Shell Plc stopped buying oil from Russia and said it would cut links to the country entirely while the United States stepped up its campaign to punish Moscow by banning Russian oil and energy imports.

“It’s impossible to predict when we might be able to reopen our restaurants in Russia,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a note emailed company wide and posted on the company’s website.

“We are experiencing disruptions to our supply chain along with other operational impacts. We will also closely monitor the humanitarian situation.”

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