Day 123 - 09 May 95 - Page 38


     
     1   Q.   But when you are going to open up in another country
     2        generally you have your core menu, which is the same in all
     3        countries, yes?
     4        A.  In general you could say that, but, as I indicated in
     5        previous testimony, it is important that we understand, or
     6        attempt to understand, as much as we can of the culture of
     7        that country.  So that if there are certain dietary laws
     8        that would restrict us from serving a particular product,
     9        we would do so.  An example of what I am saying would be
    10        India, as we are presently looking at developing
    11        restaurants in India.  We do not have any open at present,
    12        and because of some of the religious laws and the culture
    13        in that country we probably will not have beef in most of
    14        our restaurants.  So we will have an alternative to beef
    15        products in that country.
    16
    17        So, as best we can, we want to serve the public, give the
    18        public what they want, and it is certainly not a case where
    19        we want to swim upstream, so to speak.  If, in fact, we see
    20        that that there are strong, there is a strong aversion to
    21        consuming beef or some other product, then it would not
    22        make good sense for us to try to force that issue, and we
    23        have not.
    24
    25   Q.   No, but you have said that you are an influential and
    26        pioneering organisation that is spreading throughout the
    27        world, trends are changing throughout the world, people are
    28        eating out more often and people are changing their diet to
    29        different things.  In the countries where there is no
    30        hamburger tradition, or not much of one, how do you
    31        attribute your success in those countries?
    32        A.  That is a rather complicated question, but let me
    33        attempt to answer it this way.  I think, first of all, and
    34        most important, what we do we want to do consistently
    35        well.  There are four basic tenets that we feel are
    36        extremely important to McDonald's and McDonald's brand.
    37
    38   Q.   Do not tell me, quality, service, cleanliness -----
    39        A.  Cleanliness and value.  Those four basic tenets have
    40        served us well since the beginning and they continue to
    41        serve us well in every country we operate.  I think that
    42        what sets us apart from our competition, and others, is
    43        that we are able to do that day in and day out, not just
    44        today but on a continual basis, and people have come to
    45        expect that from McDonald's.  Obviously as you grow and you
    46        build that reputation, it becomes harder and harder to try
    47        to maintain that or to improve upon that.
    48
    49   Q.   But in countries where -----
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Why do you not start and put some 
    52        generalisation to Mr. Beavers?  See if it is sufficient for 
    53        your purposes or, depending on his answer, narrow it up.
    54        You might ask, for instance, whether he thinks that
    55        McDonald's in any countries have made a significant
    56        contribution to an increase in the eating of animal
    57        products in countries.
    58
    59   MR. MORRIS:  That is good example.  (To the witness).  Do you
    60        think in some countries because of your success you have

Prev Next Index