McDonald’s says it serves India in a bun

For all those opposed to “the import of foreign culture” as represented by McDonald’s, here is food for thought.

For all those opposed to “the import of foreign culture” as represented by McDonald’s, here is food for thought. The fast food chain that serves five crore customers per day across the globe and is planning its largest growth this year in India (40 outlets in 2008) after touching the figure of 131 in 12 years in the country, the beauty of its burger is that it represents national integration on a platter.

Each McDonald’s burger requires nine different ingredients which, its India Managing Director Vikram Bakshi points out, are sourced from 35 suppliers across the country. The sesame seeds come from Ghaziabad in UP, the buns are sourced from Noida and Khapoli in Maharshtra, the vegetable sauce comes from Phillaur in Punjab, the cheddar cheese from Baramati in Maharashtra, and the butter and bread from Ludhiana in Punjab. As for its trademark iceburg lettuce, it comes from farmers in Ooty, Pune and Dehradun.

This is not all, says Bakshi, as he unfolds the company’s plans to have a massive cold chain infrastructure in place to deliver farm fresh vegetables. This will achieve the bigger goal of capping losses of farmers, he points out. “The amount of fruit wasted in India because of lack of post-harvest infrastructure results in losses which equal the fruit consumption of entire Europe,” he adds.

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The huge costs of over Rs 30,000 required to set up such an infrastructure in India have even prompted companies in the food retail business to approach the Prime Minister. “Already 90 per cent of our raw material is sourced from India. Our efforts at growing potatoes in Gujarat after developing the varieties in Solang Valley in Himachal will see us even meeting the need for our iconic golden french fries from India,” says Bakshi.

And McDonald’s is not the only MNC cashing in on the desi heart. Nokia, which enjoys the highest market share in mobile handsets in India, had launched a campaign positioning its 1100 model as the first “made for India” phone, with features such as dust protection, anti-slip grip and a torch. It was also the first to introduce Hindi messaging and followed it up with ‘Makhan Chor’, a game based on Lord Krishna. Samsung India’s mobile phones with multi-language display inputs in Hindi, Tamil and Marathi are yet another example.