McDonald’s To Help Franchises In Specialty Coffee Push

Chicago Tribune:

McDonald’s Corp. told its U.S. franchisees this week it will pay up to 40% of costly renovations needed for the rollout of its specialty coffee program.

McDonald’s foray into specialty coffees, smoothies and other upscale beverages constitutes one the company’s largest product rollouts ever. And it will be expensive, costing franchisees around $25,000 for equipment and up to $75,000 to retool their restaurants to handle the new beverages.

Some franchisees have worried whether the potential pay off for the beverage offensive is worth the big investment, one of the largest they’ve ever been asked to make by McDonald’s, the Tribune reported Monday. Franchisees own about 85% of McDonald’s nearly 14,000 U.S. restaurants. More.