McDonald's no longer betting big on kid stuff in India

Happy Meals, Big Mac’s most famous sub-brand specially tailored for children and a company trademark since 1979, has been witnessing a year-on-year decline in sales in India. “Kids’ visits to our stores have been declining year-on-year and have been overtaken by young adults, but we’ve also consciously building McDonald’s as a family brand,” McDonald’s (North) India MD Vikram Bakshi said. Instead of trying to get children back in its fold, McDonald’s India has replaced Happy Meals with localised and baked products like curry pans and puffs as a core focus area. Big Mac’s trademark ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ campaign does not feature children anymore and instead uses only teenagers, adults and the elderly.

Carrying forward its localisation strategy, the food retailer is set to make French fries locally through a greenfield plant in Gujarat, set up by one of its key supplier partners — McCain Foods. The plant, set up on an investment of Rs 100 crore, will manufacture fries exclusively for McDonald’s in the first phase. The fast food chain has been importing fries from New Zealand and Holland all along.