McDonald’s launches standalone McCafé

John Betts, president and CEO of McDonald's Canada.

By Kristen Smith

TORONTO — Another step in McDonald’s brand evolution, the company opened its first standalone McCafé in Union Station’s York Concourse on Dec. 9. 

The bright, 1,100 square foot space has a small seating area and is accented with wood decor and brass pendant lights. 

McDonald’s began to reinvent its coffee program in 2008. Three years later, the McCafé brand was launched with the introduction of espresso-based beverages. According to the company, McDonald’s coffee sales have tripled and the brand has more than doubled its coffee market share.

With charging stations for mobile devices, Wi-Fi and self-order kiosks, the new concept focuses on coffee and espresso-based beverages, as well as fruit smoothies (introduced in 2012), its recently expanded bakery items, the McMuffin lineup and bagel sandwiches.

The menu also includes some new sandwiches and salads, including an apple brie and honey croissant, grilled cheese on multi-grain bread, quinoa edamame mandarin salad and kale and Brussels sprouts salad with mixed vegetables. The menu is a mix of hot prepared food and grab-and-go items. 

According to menu director Anne Parks, the focus of the food program is on items that pair well with the beverages.

“The menu is really exciting; it’s a true café-style menu, which is what we were looking for with this brand,” said Parks. 

McCafé growth platform lead Catherine Crozier said guests are looking for more access to McDonald’s coffee program as well as a café experience with a menu anchored in breakfast, snacking, lunch and grab-and-go options.

“That’s the inspiration, to really provide a complete café experience that we found is highly incremental to our regular restaurant experience,” said Crozier.

Since McDonald’s core burger menu is not on offer, dominating kitchen space during lunch and dinner, McCafé locations are able to serve all-day breakfast.

“Because of the dedicated menu that’s really focused on café expectations, we’re able to do the toasters, the eggs all day long,” Crozier said.

Targeting commuters and on-the-go professionals, the concept allows the company to move into footprints smaller than its 5,000-square-foot McDonald’s locations.

“This allows us to really build the brand in a footprint where our traditional restaurants couldn’t go. So hopefully, infill much more in the busy urban corridor,” said Crozier.

A second, 1,600-square-foot location is slated to open Jan. 4 in the Exchange Tower at First Canadian Place with 19 seats. 

“There has been a lot of development behind this and we built this to be a scalable concept. We’re confident in the concept, but how it’s going to roll out, we’ll wait and see,” Crozier said.