McCafe? why?

Photo By ByteHead as found at, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bytehead/530236974/

Now when I feel like an excellent cup of coffee the last place that comes to mind is McDonalds, but someone at McDonalds thought it was a great idea to introduce a new line of products under the brand” McCafe” to broaden their revenue base or perhaps to draw customers away from Starbucks as people are trying to reduce their spending. Now if you want to reduce your spending go out and purchase a cheap coffee machine like a Saeco Via VeneziaRather than paying $5 every time you feel like a Grande Latte.

Either way, I can’t imagine McCafe producing exceptional coffee. Perhaps it is too early to judge but I highly doubt that McDonalds would care enough about coffee to use the right equipment, decent blends of coffee and train their staff correctly. What 17 year old making minimum wage would really care enough to listen whilst being trained to use the new coffee machine?

Now I have tried Starbucks in a number of countries, in the US, Japan and even while on holiday in Indonesia, and whilst they may have improved over the years I still haven’t been impressed by the coffee they produce. Considering the fact that Starbucks profit is down over 60% compared to last quarter and they are closing underperforming branches doesn’t bode well for the coffee industry, even for a large company like McDonalds it doesn’t seem like a wise business decision.

Even if Starbucks hasn’t done a great job at producing coffee, they have done a stellar job at creating a brand and positioning their products and pricing them accordingly. McCafe will no doubt try to sell products barley passable as Coffee whilst trying to undercut their competition.

Every business has core competencies, making coffee isn’t one of McDonalds…