麦当劳首次现身越南 亚洲成发展主战场

    本周一，麦当劳（McDonald's）在越南的首家餐厅开业，朝着全球“霸业”又进了一步。此次进驻胡志明市，标志着快餐业巨头麦当劳的业务扩展到了第120个国家，这也是在亚洲开设的第10,000家麦当劳餐厅。

    麦当劳首席执行官唐•汤普森在俄罗斯索契接受《财富》（Fortune）电话采访称：“我认为越南显然存在对麦当劳的潜在需求。我们公司关注越南已经有一段时间了。”

    麦当劳此次在越南开业之际，正值它在美国国内遭遇挑战之时。本周一，麦当劳美国业务连续三个月同店销售额下降。而今年1月份，汤普森指出，麦当劳在顾客心中的分量有所减轻。麦当劳日益依赖国际市场来推动收入增长：2012年，这家公司68％的收入来自海外市场；而在2000年，美国国内市场与海外市场还是平分秋色。

    2011年7月，麦当劳首次进驻波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那共和国；两个月后，它又首次登陆特立尼达和多巴哥共和国。之后，麦当劳一直没有再开辟新的市场。早前，麦当劳于2001年首次在毛里求斯开店后，曾有十年没有在新的国家开店。在此期间，麦当劳放慢了开店的速度，致力于通过提升现有门店的销售额、而不是多开店来实现增长。

    汤普森向《财富》表示，进军越南并不意味着麦当劳的经营策略发生了转变，也不意味着公司打算另辟蹊径。汤普森称：“我们不会为了开拓新市场而投入全部资源。”不过，他又强调，麦当劳会将亚洲作为公司发展的主战场。

    目前麦当劳在亚洲市场的任务繁重，一方面要在已开设分店的国家大力拓展业务；另一方面要在空白市场（例如柬埔寨、孟加拉和老挝等国）力求突破。汤普森称，现在单越南一个国，就已让麦当劳忙得不可开交。不过，无论如何，麦当劳依然会在亚洲积极寻找机遇。

    越南首家麦当劳快餐店拥有350个座位，位于胡志明市一条高速公路的终点。这条高速公路全长1000英里，另一头连接着越南最大的城市首都河内。这家麦当劳因此有幸成为越南首家得来速（drive-through）餐厅，无论是开汽车还是摩托车都能十分便捷地在此消费，而胡志明市的摩托车可是格外地多。

    菜单中最引人注目的要数专为越南市场推出的McPork汉堡——在芝麻小圆面包中夹入了猪肉香肠馅饼。麦当劳越南特许经营者亨利•阮说：“我们之所以要推出猪肉食品，是因为猪肉是越南人最主要的蛋白质摄入来源。”他还补充说，麦当劳标志性的巨无霸和炸薯条一定会成为大受欢迎的食品。目前，越南麦当劳的大部分食物原材料都进口自美国、澳大利亚、马来西亚和泰国，阮表示，自己的最终目标是完全本地化。

    亨利•阮两岁时就随父母移民美国。中学时期，他曾利用暑假到快餐店打工。亨利•阮13岁那年回到越南，现为私募资本IDG越南投资公司一般合伙人，同时也是越南现任总理的女婿。

    McDonald's (MCD) got a little bit closer to conquering the globe Monday when it opened its first restaurant in Vietnam. The launch in Ho Chi Minh City marked the fast food giant's 10,000th location in Asia and entry into its 120th country.

    "Clearly I think there's pent up demand for McDonald's in Vietnam," CEO Don Thompson toldFortune in a telephone interview from Sochi. "It's been on the company's radar screen for a while."

    The opening comes amid a challenging period for McDonald's in its home market. On Monday its U.S. business reported its third month in a row of same-store sales declines, and in January Thompson noted that the company had lost some relevance with customers. McDonald's is becoming increasingly reliant on international markets as a revenue driver: In 2012, 68% of revenue came from outside the U.S., up from about a 50-50 split in 2000.

    McDonald's hasn't opened a new market since 2011 when the Golden Arches arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July of that year and then in Trinidad and Tobago two months later. After arriving in Mauritius in 2001, McDonald's didn't enter a new country for a decade. The company slowed store growth during that period, focusing on growth through increasing sales at existing stores rather than through more restaurants.

    Thompson told Fortune that entry into Vietnam shouldn't be read as a change in strategy or a refocusing of efforts. "We're not shifting all of our resources to just opening new markets," he says. However, he did note that Asia would be the site of a predominance of new units going forward.

    McDonald's still has much more ground to cover in Asia in growing its store base in countries where it already has a presence and opening up in nations where it's missing (Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Laos to name a few). Thompson says the company has its hands full with Vietnam at the moment, but McDonald's is going to continue to look for new opportunities in Asia.

    Vietnam's 350-seat restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, open 24-hours, is located at the terminus of the 1,000-mile highway that connects that city, the country's largest, with the capital, Hanoi. The location features Vietnam's first drive-through, which is open to both cars and the motorcycles that dominate the city.

    Menu highlights include the McPork, a new item tailored to the local market that is made with a pork sausage patty on a sesame bun. "We wanted to introduce a pork product because that is the most commonly consumed protein here," says franchisee Henry Nguyen, adding that he thinks the iconic Big Mac and fries will be the most popular products. Most of the ingredients are at this point sourced from the U.S., Australia, Malaysia, and Thailand, but Nguyen has a goal to eventually buy them locally.

    Nguyen's parents emigrated from Vietnam to the U.S. when he was about two years old, and he worked for the fast food chain in high school part-time during summers. About 13 years ago he moved back to Vietnam, where he's managing general partner of private equity firm IDG Ventures Vietnam and the son-in-law of Vietnam's prime minister.