To the casual observer, McDonald’s is just a burger chain. But the world’s biggest fast-food company does more than serve up fries and shakes. It is a huge franchising machine, with a growing appetite.
Franchisees run 95 per cent of the company’s 40,275 locations around the world. Their fees accounted for 61 per cent of the $23bn in revenue reported by McDonald’s last year.
But that relationship has left a bad taste. In recent years, these operators have clashed with McDonald’s over the latter’s efforts to tighten franchise standards and rules. Company plans to raise royalty fees for new franchise restaurants in the US and Canada could bring further discontent.
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