How McDonald’s Climbed Back on Top | Eater

"After years of decline the company returned to growth under CEO Steve Easterbrook (who took over in 2015), with its stock rising more than 40% in 2017, domestic same-store sales up 4.5%, and foot traffic increasing. Key initiatives driving the turnaround include the introduction and expansion of all-day breakfast (with items such as the McGriddle added in 2016), experiments with fresh beef (cooked-to-order Quarter Pounder tests in Dallas in May 2016 and a goal to roll fresh Quarter Pounders out by mid‑2018, plus a throwback Archburger test in Jan 2018), and the removal of artificial preservatives from McNuggets in August 2016 (after which McNugget sales rose about 10%). Value plays were revived with the return of the dollar menu in January 2018, while growth was pursued internationally through an aggressive China/Hong Kong/Korea expansion plan (initially targeting 1,500 new restaurants and, after selling China/HK businesses to Citic and Carlyle in January 2017, shifting toward a 2,000‑store development goal by 2022). The company has also invested heavily in technology—self-order kiosks, a mid‑2017 mobile order-and-pay app with over 20 million registered users, and a delivery push with UberEats (rolled out to ~5,000 stores by October 2017, with delivery orders averaging 1.5–2x higher and a 10,000‑store delivery goal by 2019). Environmental and supply‑chain moves include sustainable‑beef pilot programs in the U.S. and Brazil, a pledge to eliminate deforestation from its supply chain by 2020, and a switch to renewable/recyclable packaging with plans to eliminate styrofoam by the end of 2018. A broad franchising strategy—selling roughly 4,000 company‑owned restaurants to franchisees and reaching about 92% franchised locations—has lowered corporate costs but left wage practices contested: the company has resisted raising worker pay, become a target of the Fight for $15 movement, and faced shifting National Labor Relations Board rulings over joint‑employer status; critics note a large CEO‑to‑worker pay gap (CEO base pay in 2016 was $1.26 million, about 74 times the lowest‑paid workers). Despite continued challenges such as rising labor costs and fast‑casual competition, the company has regained momentum and remains a dominant player (and much‑praised maker of french fries)." - Dana Hatic