Burger and fries a la francaise

摘要

Can a Frenchman revive Europe's appetite for the Big Mac? Denis Henne-quin, who ran McDonald's in France, is now trying to repeat the success he had in his home country as the new head of the American fast-food giant's European operations. On April 13th, McDonald's said that, while it expects first-quarter profits to improve thanks to renewed growth in America, sales in Europe hardly grew at all. Though it seems unlikely, France is the only place in Europe that has consistently loved McDonald's since the first outlet opened there in 1979. McDonald's might well be an icon of American culture and globalisation in a country whose people take to the streets to protest against both. And fast food would seem foreign in a society where a one (or two) hour break for lunch is still sacrosanct. Yet the French cannot seem to get enough of their "McDo". A recent study by MKG Consulting in Paris found McDonald's largely dominates the French restaurant sector, dwarfing rivals such as Elior, a French fast-food group, and Quick, a Belgian chain. McDonald's now has some 1,040 restaurants in 750 cities in France, now its most profitable European subsidiary.