McDonalds is reporting a remarkable buck of the economic trend with its seventh consecutive month of sales growth globally which has prompted the FT to claim that this is testament to "the resilience of its business model".
The reason for this spectacular record for McDonalds is put down to the move into "fancy coffees" under the McCafe brand, which is part of a strategy to compete for more morning rush hour trade and compete directly with Starbucks and other coffee chains.
Starbucks recently responded at the apparent encroachment of McDonalds onto its "patch" with a new slogan "Its not just coffee, its Starbuck's".
McCafe counters are set to see explosive growth in Europe next year with around 1,200 planned for 2010.
There are 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants globally; shares in McDonalds in the New York Stock Exchange were up 97 cents, or 1.8% on news of the sales growth.
Cape Town's 'Ghetto Ballerina' gets liftA South African ballet dancer from a poor township outside Cape Town has been given the chance to train in the United States -- all because of a documentary film, and an email from a caring viewer.
