In the midst of a global recession and unprecedented unemployment rates in the U.S. and abroad, fast food chains such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King are taking advantage of the increasing demand for fast food as cash-poor consumers seek cheaper dining alternatives. As the fast food wars heat up, these chains are scrambling to offer products at competitive prices, reduce operating costs, introduce new products and launch special promotions.

So far, McDonald’s is winning the fast food wars. McDonald’s has become the most successful chain to beat the odds of an economic recession and has risen over all of its competitors in the fast food industry. The global burger chain giant recently reported sales results that surpassed the expectations of analysts. In February, McDonald’s generated an 11.2% increase in sales across its entire global operations. For its branches in Asia, sales rose to 10.5% – the highest since November 2008. Additionally, McDonald’s stores in Europe increased its sales by 5.4%. McDonald’s has also beaten the challenges that came with the chilly weather and violent snowstorms, reporting 0.6% sales increase for U.S. stores. This is remarkable considering that most American consumers have been staying home during winter and were unable to dine out in fast food chains because of heavy snowfall.

On the other hand, Burger King and Wendy’s, McDonald’s chief rivals in the fast food industry, continued to suffer losses. Wendy’s, for instance, witnessed a 7.4% fall in January sales worldwide, despite the 0.3% increase in sales in North American branches.

McDonald’s stocks are up 4.3% in 2010, while Burger King and Wendy’s shares declined 2.7 and 2.1% respectively. Investors have been more inclined towards investing in McDonald’s because of its stability, strong financial performance, sheer size and marketing strategies.

Post Author: guest

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 at 11:20 am and is filed under Corporate News, Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.