An employee is in front of the menu counter of the Russian version of an old McDonald’s restaurant before the opening ceremony in Moscow on June 12. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP / Getty Images
It may look and smell like McDonald’s, but now it’s Vkusno & tochka. The golden bows are gone, the Filet-O-Fish is just a fish burger. The Big Mac has left Russia.
A new era for Russia’s economic and fast food scene began on Sunday, when McDonald’s restaurants opened their doors in Moscow under a new Russian property with the new name, which translates as “Tasty and already “.
The inauguration of the branded outlets, more than three decades after the American burger giant first opened its doors in Moscow in a symbolic thaw between East and West, is once again a clear sign of a new world order. The reopening took place on Russia Day, a holiday that celebrates national pride.
The chain’s fortune, which McDonald’s sold when it left the country over the Ukraine conflict, could provide evidence of how Russia’s economy can become more self-sufficient and withstand Western sanctions.
On Sunday, dozens of people lined up in front of what used to be McDonald’s flagship restaurant on Pushkin Square in central Moscow. The outlet had a new logo – a stylized burger with two chips – as well as a slogan: “The name changes, the love stays.”
The queue was significantly smaller than the thousands of people who attended the original opening of McDonald’s back in 1990 during the Soviet era.
“We have to avoid a drop in quality, so that everything stays as before, because we loved McDonald’s,” said computer worker Sardana Donskaya, who lined up 32 years ago for a first taste of a brand. who had personified Western capitalism and returned on Sunday to inaugurate his successor.
Superior; People lined up outside Moscow’s first McDonald’s restaurant during its opening on January 31, 1990, and people gathered near Moscow’s new “Vkusno & tochka” restaurant on June 12, which open after McDonald’s Corp. leaves the Russian market.EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA / Reuters
The Vkusno & tochka menu was smaller and did not offer Big Mac or other burgers and desserts, such as McFlurry. A double cheeseburger cost 129 rubles ($ 2.31) compared to about 160 at McDonald’s and a fish burger for 169 rubles, compared to about 190 earlier.
The composition of the burgers has not changed and the McDonald’s team has remained, said Alexander Merkulov, head of quality at the new company.
McDonald’s closed its Russian restaurants in March and said in mid-May that it had decided to leave the country altogether, one of the most prominent business outings since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24th.
In a hurry that the new owners have had to change in time for the launch, much of the packaging for chips and burgers was white, as were the drink cups, while the takeaway bags were colored brown. The old McDonald’s logo on packages of ketchup and other sauces was covered in makeshift black markings.
Sergei, a 15-year-old customer, however, saw little difference.
“The taste has stayed the same,” he said as he hid with a chicken and french fries burger. “The queue is different, but there’s really no change to the burger.”
Better than a Big Mac?
Moscow’s flagship restaurant is among the 15 outlets that will open on Sunday in and around the capital. Ok Paroev, CEO of Vkusno & tochka, said the company plans to reopen 200 restaurants in Russia by the end of June and 850 by the end of the summer. See FACTBOX:
“We didn’t work for three months,” said Ruzanna, a manager of a Moscow branch that would open in July. “Everyone is very happy.”
The chain will retain its former McDonald’s interior, but will remove any reference to its former name, said Paroev, who was appointed chief executive officer of McDonald’s Russia weeks before the start of the Ukraine conflict.
“Our goal is for our guests not to notice any difference in either the quality or the atmosphere,” Paroev said at a press conference at the restaurant.
Siberian businessman Alexander Govor, the new owner of the business, told Reuters he would try to launch something similar to McDonald’s Big Mac.
“We have no right to use certain colors, we have no right to use golden bows, we have no right to use any mention of McDonald’s,” he told Reuters.
“The Big Mac is the story of McDonald’s. We will definitely do something similar, “he said.” We will try to do something even better so that our visitors and guests like this dish. “
CEO Paroev added that the company is looking for new suppliers of soft drinks as some stocks of Coca Cola, which is suspending its sales in Russia, are running out. Paroev said all but 2% of the chain’s ingredients come from Russia.
Not everyone was impressed.
Moments after the press conference, a man stood in front of the cameras with a sign that said “The Big Mac is back.” He was quickly heard by the restaurant staff.
New owner: I paid a lump sum
Govor is one of many Russians who get active while hundreds of Western companies flee. On Sunday he said he paid a “symbolic” figure “well below market price” for McDonald’s Russia. McDonald’s, the world’s largest burger chain, took on a charge of up to $ 1.4 billion after the sale.
Russian authorities have said the US group has the right to buy its restaurants within 15 years, although Govor poured cold water on that possibility.
“They made it clear to me that they would not buy again,” Interfax said.
McDonald’s, which has said Govor will retain tens of thousands of employees in the chain for at least two years, was not immediately available to comment further on the terms of the sale or its future Russian intentions.
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