McDonald’s is counting on coffee to give sagging U.S. sales a jolt.
The chain’s top priority this year is boosting “coffee-driven visits,” according to a document laying out the 2014 to 2016 U.S. strategy.
In a Jan. 28 memo, U.S. operations chief Jim Johannesen and U.S. brand chief Kevin Newell exhorted franchisees to deliver “a gold-standard cup of coffee with every visit.” In a webcast presentation for restaurant owners earlier this month, McDonald’s vowed to become the “envy” of its competitors and said Starbucks was leading the “coffee wars.”
The ramped-up coffee effort comes almost five years after the U.S. debut of the McCafe menu and strategy, which hasn’t lived up to its original intent.