快餐不再以快取胜：麦当劳的“冻改鲜”计划能否成功？

为了买了一个汉堡，特蕾西·摩尔在达斯斯城中心的一家麦当劳餐厅的停车道上等了好半天，最后等得都有些不耐烦了。

麦当劳新推出的这款“足三两”汉堡是用新鲜的牛肉做的，它比传统的用冻肉饼做得汉堡更热乎、更多汁，它也是麦当劳为了向消费者奉上更美味的快餐而研制的主打产品。

但是等了四分钟之后，摩尔倒是急得成了热锅上的蚂蚁。她和其他点了“足三两”汉堡的消费者一样，都被店方要求把车子停到停车场上去等，以免占用订餐车道。

“早知道需要每次都得等这么长时间，我就不点这个汉堡了，我宁可去其他地方。”摩尔抱怨道。她是麦当劳的常客，几乎每天早上都会在订餐车道上点一杯可乐和一份早餐。

面对竞争对手对其市场份额的不断蚕食，麦当劳正在想方设法在快餐的时间和口味上进行权衡。而用新鲜牛肉制作的“足三两”汉堡正是麦当劳为提高快餐品质而做出的一次重要尝试。今年三月，麦当劳已经在几个地区试点推出了几款新三明治，并打算在2018年年中之前，将这些新品推广到全美市场。

不过麦当劳的此次尝试能否成功，很大程度上要取决于像摩尔这样的重要主顾是不是买账。像摩尔这样主要通过订餐车道订餐的高薪白领，大约为麦当劳的美国业务贡献了高达七成的收入。

据餐厅经理和分析师们称，虽然新鲜牛肉煎起来比冻肉还快，然而这种现场烹饪的“足三两”汉堡的制作时间还是要比冻肉饼汉堡多出一分钟。因为只有在顾客掏钱购买之后，工作人员才能开始煎牛肉。而传统的冻肉饼汉堡都是提前批量煎好了的，所以能节省不少时间。

快餐是一项分秒必争的生意。调查显示，麦当劳的订餐车道的订餐速度已经落后于不少主要的竞争对手。虽然麦当劳并没有公布过相关数据，但据该公司的代表年初接受路透社采访时称，麦当劳的服务时间的确是拉长了。

尽管如此，麦当劳的高层还是很看好“足三两”鲜牛肉汉堡的前景。这款汉堡的销量足足占了麦当劳全美汉堡销量的四分之一。在上月的一次投资者会议上，麦当劳公司的CEO史蒂夫·伊斯特布鲁克表示，此次“冻肉换鲜肉”带来的不良反应要比预想的少得多，各个餐厅的运营商也都表示了欢迎。

然而，一些快餐行业的老将却对麦当劳的这次创新持不同态度。行业顾问理查德·亚当斯曾经做过南加州的麦当劳特许经营商，他表示，对于麦当劳的主顾们来说，方便是最重要的因素，如果上餐速度下降了，他们可能宁可到别的地方吃饭。

“但凡是在顾客下单后才开始烹调的，服务速度就一定会下降。”亚当斯表示。

其实，在“鲜肉换冻肉”的计划出台以前，麦当劳的后厨已经倍感压力山大了。

亚当斯指出，最近麦当劳的新菜谱已经让各地餐厅的工作人员深感头疼。这是由于麦当劳最近在全美范围内推出了所谓的“签名制作”三明治，顾客可以挑选他们自己喜欢的肉、面包和酱汁，让工作人员为他们现场制作符合其口味的三明治。等到“签名制作”汉堡推广到全美各地时，它们也将用上鲜牛肉。

另外，随着麦当劳开始积极采用自助下单和移动下单等技术，厨师们面临的压力只会更大。这些技术虽然缩短了顾客下单的时间，却会在高峰时段让厨房陷入忙不过来的境地——对于这一点，星巴克已经有了切身体会。

要新鲜还是要速度

“冻改鲜”的足三两汉堡，只不过是伊斯特布鲁克为了对这家拥有60年历史的快餐连锁企业进行改造，以扭转连续四年客流量下滑的不利局面而做出的一系列尝试之一。

另外，这也是为了迎击Wendy’s Co、Whataburger和In-N-Out等快餐新锐的挑战。这几家快餐公司都以鲜肉汉堡为卖点。麦当劳称，自2012年以来，他们至少从麦当劳的美国门店里吸走了5亿美元的销售额。

2015年10月，伊斯特布鲁克推出了大受欢迎的“全天早餐”计划，的确刺激了不少销量。从那时起到现在，麦当劳的股价已经上涨了25%。

据分析士人预计，随着“冻改鲜”计划的推出，加之麦当劳开始在炸鸡块等热门产品中摒弃人造添加剂，以满足消费者对更简单、更“干净”、更新鲜的食材的需求，麦当劳的销量将有望进一步提高。

“冻改鲜”的足三两汉堡已经获得了不少分析师和麦当劳特许经销商的支持。在俄克拉荷马州和得克萨斯州，该产品已经在400家门店试验了将近两年，反响不错。

据路透社报道，根据三位达拉斯地区的麦当劳经理估计，“冻改鲜”已经使足三两汉堡的销量从20%提高到了50%——尽管这其中也离不开广告和优惠券的大力推动。

达拉斯北部某高档小区的麦当劳餐厅经理埃德加·梅扎表示：“街上那家Whataburger的不少顾客已经跑到我们这来了。”而Whataburger公司的管理层则拒绝对此发表评论。

有也汉堡爱好者也注意到了“冻改鲜”带来的变化。

“这些汉堡变得更多汁了。”鲍伯·雷利刚在达拉斯的一个小区的麦当劳餐厅吃完一个足三两汉堡，这也是他这个星期里吃的第三顿麦当劳。

“我认为Wendy’s点醒了他们。”他说。

乔伊·贾斯珀曾在麦当劳公司担任高管，他在达拉斯和沃斯堡等地经营着20家麦当劳餐厅，他也在大力推动“冻改鲜”。他表示，新的足三两汉堡“是我们行业里最好的汉堡，更重要的是，它是以麦当劳的速度上餐的。”

问题是，“麦当劳”速度毕竟赶不上业内的很多竞争对手。

根据行业刊物《QSR》杂志发布的一项研究，去年麦当劳订餐车道的平均服务时间是208.2秒，该数据来自亚特兰大的一家名叫SeeLevel HX公司的统计。这个时间要远远长于行业领头羊Wendy’s的169.1秒。汉堡王、唐恩都乐和肯德基的服务时间也比麦当劳短。

从2012年到2016年，麦当劳在一些门店增添了订餐车道，取消了做起来比较耗费时间的卷饼三明治等一些产品，从而将与Wendy’s的差距缩小了三分之一。尽管如此，根据SeeLevel HX公司的数据，去年它的订餐车道等待时间仍然比2012年慢了将近20秒。

克劳蒂亚·巴塞纳斯是达拉斯中央高速公路旁的一家麦当劳餐厅的助理经理，她表示，在她的餐厅，前台员工和订餐车道的员工会告诉顾客，如果他们想点鲜牛肉做的足三两汉堡，可能要多等上一点时间，尤其是如果他们点的是全熟的牛肉。

巴塞纳斯表示：“我们必须向顾客解释，鲜牛肉加工的时间要更长一些，可能需要一分钟左右。”

麦当劳的顾客是否认为值得为了鲜牛肉多等些时间，还要看全国的试推广情况怎样。

午休时间，胡安·罗德里格斯在达拉斯的另一家麦当劳餐厅的订餐车道上点了一份鲜牛肉做的足三两汉堡。在三分钟的等待时间里，这个20岁的年轻人显然等得十分心焦。他说：“如果鲜牛肉汉堡的确更好吃，那么我不介意多等一会儿。如果吃起来没什么分别，我就不会再买了。”（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

Tracy Moore grew impatient as she waited for a Quarter Pounder recently in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant in central Dallas.

The burger, made with fresh beef and billed as hotter and juicer than the original made from a frozen patty, is part of the company's effort to serve tastier food.

But after about four minutes, it was Moore who was steamed. Like other customers who'd ordered the new Quarter Pounder at the restaurant's drive-through, she was asked to pull into a parking space and wait.

"If it's going to be that long every time, I won't order it. I'd go" elsewhere, said Moore, who hits the drive-through every morning for a Coke and dines frequently at the chain.

The tradeoff between time and taste looms large for McDonald's as it works to win back business lost to rivals. The introduction of cooked-to-order, quarter-pound burgers made with fresh beef is part of the chain's attempt to improve food quality. Announced in March, the new sandwiches are already in selected test markets and are expected to be served in all U.S. stores by mid-2018.

But the success of the initiative may well hinge on satisfying important customers like Moore: speed-minded drive-through patrons who account for 70% of the firm's U.S. revenue.

An on-demand Quarter Pounder takes about a minute longer to land in a customer's hands than does the original sandwich, according to restaurant managers and analysts, even though fresh beef fries up faster than frozen patties. That's because grilling begins only after a patron orders. Traditional Quarter Pounders were often cooked up in batches ahead of time.

Every second counts in the fast-food business. McDonald's drive-through speeds already lag those of some major competitors, according to one widely watched survey. McDonald's does not share such data, but company representatives told Reuters earlier this year that service times have slowed.

Still, company executives are bullish on prospects for the popular Quarter Pounder, which accounts for about one-fourth of McDonald's U.S. burger sales. At an investor conference last month, Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook said the changeover has created fewer complications than expected and that restaurant operators are on board.

Some industry veterans, however, are skeptical. Richard Adams, a former Southern California McDonald's franchisee-turned-consultant, says convenience is paramount for the chain's patrons, who may go elsewhere if speed deteriorates.

"Any time the cooking process begins after the customer orders, the service time will be slower," Adams said.

The fresh-beef initiative comes as pressure builds on McDonald's kitchens.

Adams says restaurant crews already are juggling trickier menu items thanks to the recent national launch of McDonald's new "Signature Crafted" sandwich line, which allows customers to pick their own meat, buns and toppings. "Signature Crafted" quarter-pound burgers also will use fresh beef as it becomes available nationwide.

McDonald's cooks could be further strained by the chain's embrace of self-service kiosks and mobile ordering. The technology shaves ordering times, but can create new bottlenecks by swamping kitchens at peak hours, as companies such as Starbucks have learned.

Fresh vs. Fast

The revamped Quarter Pounder is the latest move by Easterbrook to modernize the 60-year-old chain and reverse four straight years of traffic declines.

It's also a direct shot at Wendy's Co, Whataburger and In-N-Out. Those fresh-burger chains are among the fast-food rivals that McDonald's says have siphoned 500 million U.S. transactions from its stores since 2012.

Easterbrook's introduction of all-day breakfast in October 2015 was a big hit and has helped lift sales. The company's stock price is up more than 25 percent so far this year.

Analysts expect the fresh-beef push, along with moves to ditch artificial ingredients in popular items such as chicken nuggets, to bolster sales by addressing consumer demand for simpler, "cleaner" and fresher ingredients.

The Quarter Pounder makeover has won early support from analysts and McDonald's franchisees in the heart of cattle country, where the product has been tested for almost two years in about 400 stores in Oklahoma and Texas.

Three Dallas-area McDonald's managers who spoke with Reuters estimated the switch has improved their Quarter Pounder sales from 20% to 50%, albeit aided by advertising and coupons.

"We've been stealing customers from a Whataburger down the street," said Edgar Meza, a manager at a McDonald's restaurant in an upscale neighborhood in north Dallas. Officials at Texas-based Whataburger, a regional chain, declined to comment.

Some burger lovers are taking notice too.

"They're a little juicier," said Bob Riley, who was polishing off a Quarter Pounder at an outlet near Dallas' Deep Ellum neighborhood, his third McDonald's meal of the week.

"I think Wendy's (WEN, -2.36%)woke them up," he said.

Joe Jasper, a former McDonald's executive who owns 20 restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has been deeply involved in the effort. He described the new Quarter Pounder as "the best burger in our industry, but more importantly, (one delivered) at the speed of McDonald's."

Trouble is, the "speed of McDonald's" isn't as fast as that of many of its competitors.

The average service time at a McDonald's drive-through last year was 208.2 seconds, according to a study published by QSR magazine, an industry publication, using data from SeeLevel HX, an Atlanta-based business intelligence firm. That's well behind industry leader Wendy's at 169.1 seconds, according to the survey. Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts and KFC all beat McDonald's too.

McDonald's narrowed the gap with Wendy's by one-third from 2012 to 2016 by adding more drive-through lanes at some stores and by scrapping products such as "snack wraps," tortilla-wrapped sandwiches that proved time-consuming to prepare. Still, its average drive-through service time last year was almost 20 seconds slower than it was in 2012, according to SeeLevel HX data.

Claudia Barcenas, assistant manager at a McDonald's off Dallas' Central Expressway, says her counter and drive-through staff inform patrons that fresh-beef Quarter Pounders can be delayed, particularly if the sandwiches are ordered well-done.

"We have to explain that it takes a bit longer. Perhaps a minute," Barcenas said.

Whether that's worth it for McDonald's customers remains to be seen as the experiment goes nationwide.

Juan Rodriguez waited on his lunch break for a fresh-beef Quarter Pounder at the drive-through of another Dallas McDonald's outlet about nine miles from Barcenas' store. At the three-minute mark, the 20-year-old was getting restless."If it's better, I don't mind waiting," Rodriguez said. "But if it tastes the same, then no."