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.

In November, McDonald’s started implementing its new packaging across its 13,900 restaurants in the United States, standing behind a new concept of showing consumers the “unique personalities” of their menu items via their new, innovative packaging. Additionally, McDonald’s continues to keep it simple, further claiming that the redesign will still enable 82% of its consumer packaging to continue to be made from renewable paper or wood sources. The giant food chain is also busy modifying its outlets throughout the country such as using real bricks for their exteriors and furnishing their interiors with flat-panel boob tubes and plush seats.

Moreover, McDonald’s rolled out its plans of introducing its latest design in the next two years in each one of the 118 countries where it operates.

Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s largest fast food chain with over 31,000 restaurants around the world serving burgers, French fries, chicken, soft drinks, salads, desserts, milkshakes, and breakfasts. Brothers Dick and Mac McDonald founded the McDonald’s restaurant concept in 1940 while Ray Kroc founded the corporation, later acquiring the brothers’ equity in the company and then went on to expand the company worldwide.