麦当劳 巨无霸不再称霸

McDonald’s shook up its leadership this week as it struggled to keep up with changing consumer tastes, appointing Steve Easterbrook, a veteran of UK high street restaurant chains, to replace Don Thompson as chief executive.

最近麦当劳(McDonald’s)改组了领导层。正在努力跟上消费者口味变化的这家快餐业巨头，任命英国商业街连锁餐饮业老将史蒂夫•伊斯特布鲁克(Steve Easterbrook)为首席执行官，换下唐•汤普森(Don Thompson)。

FT reporters around the world take a market-by-market look at the challenges facing the company.

英国《金融时报》全球各地的记者分析了麦当劳在不同市场面临的不同挑战。

US: left behind by shifts in dining habits

美国：被饮食习惯的变迁抛在后面

McDonald’s faces perhaps its greatest challenge in its home market. Critics charge that the company has been unable to cope with fundamental shifts in the restaurant business in recent years, writes Neil Munshi in Chicago.

麦当劳在本土市场面临的挑战也许是其诸多挑战中最严峻的。批评者指责麦当劳没能应对近年来餐饮业发生的根本变化。

Upstart rivals have been able to capitalise on consumer demand for food that is perceived as healthier and made with fresher, natural ingredients.

异军突起的竞争者利用了消费者对新型食品的需求，人们认为这些食品更健康，食材天然，而且更新鲜。

McDonald’s has built a global empire based on the consistency of its products, down to the thickness of fries and the number of pickles on a sandwich. But the age of the Big Mac and fries has given way to the age of organic kale and small-batch aioli.

从薯条的粗细到汉堡上放几根酸黄瓜，麦当劳以产品的一致性为招牌，打造了一个全球帝国。但巨无霸和薯条的时代已经过去，取而代之的是有机甘蓝和小份蒜泥蛋黄酱的时代。

In a sign of how drastically the restaurant game has shifted, McDonald’s will attempt to compete this year by expanding a customisable burger pilot programme to up to 2,000 US outlets, or one out of every seven stores. That will give consumers the chance to add bacon or mushrooms or caramelised onions to their Quarter Pounder.

餐饮业的竞争已经发生了彻底的改变，迹象之一就是麦当劳今年决定把定制汉堡试点项目推广到多达2000家美国门店，也就是每7家美国门店就有1家推出这一服务。顾客将有机会给自己的四盎司牛肉堡(Quarter Pounder)添加培根、蘑菇或者焦糖洋葱。

Compounding McDonald’s home market challenges are the nationwide protests that have broken out over raising the minimum wage. The fast-food giant has become the poster child for the fight for a $15 hourly wage — more than double the national minimum.

令麦当劳在本土市场面临的挑战更加复杂化的是，全美各地爆发了要求提高最低工资的抗议。抗议者要求将最低工资标准提高到每小时15美元，相当于美国现行最低工资标准的两倍多，快餐业巨头麦当劳成了他们的靶子。

A top US labour regulator recently ruled that the company might be liable for how its franchisees treat employees, dealing a blow to the entire franchise model.

最近，美国最高劳工监管机构裁定，麦当劳可能要对旗下特许经营商对待员工的方式负责，这打击了整个特许经营模式。

Steve Easterbrook, the incoming chief executive, confronted just such a challenge in the UK. He turned that market round through a campaign that included allowing consumers to ask what goes into McDonald’s food and promoting the upward mobility that so-called “McJobs” afford.

即将上任的CEO史蒂夫•伊斯特布鲁克曾在英国面临这一挑战。他发起了一项活动，允许消费者询问麦当劳所用的食材，并宣传所谓的“麦当劳工作”(McJobs)也能带来社会和经济地位上升的流动性，从而在英国市场扭转了局面。

But the US is a market roughly 10 times the size of the UK. Turning round the brand on its home turf will be all the harder.

但美国市场的规模几乎是英国市场的10倍。在本土市场挽回品牌声誉将困难得多。

China: food safety concerns undermine brand

中国：对食品安全的担忧削弱品牌声誉

Food safety comes near the top of any league table of public concerns in China, soMcDonald’s was hit hard when an undercover television investigation accused the company last July of using a mainland supplier that relabelled expired meat, writes Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai.

如果要对中国公众关心的问题列一个榜单，食品安全几乎可以在任何榜单上居首。因此，去年7月一家中国电视台进行卧底调查，指控麦当劳的一家国内供应商给过期肉重新贴上标签，这件事给麦当劳带来沉重打击。

McDonald’s said earlier this month that same store sales in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region continued to suffer the effects of the scandal, dropping 4.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, year on year.

麦当劳上月早些时候报告，亚太、中东和非洲地区的同店销售额持续受到该丑闻的影响，2014年第4季度同比下降4.8%。

“Consumers in China are still leery of the brand and haven’t really been convinced that McDonald’s has supply chain issues under control,” said Benjamin Cavender of China Market Research in Shanghai.

“中国消费者对这个品牌仍抱有戒心，他们还没有真正被说服，相信麦当劳已经控制了供应链问题，”中国市场研究集团(China Market Research Group)的本杰明•卡文德尔(Benjamin Cavender)在上海表示。

Foreign fast food brands such as McDonald’s and Yum’s KFC have long enjoyed a reputation for cleanliness, quality and safety on the mainland, which has faced a string of food quality scandals in recent years. These included the scandal of melamine in infant milk, which killed six babies and sickened several hundred thousand.

在中国内地，麦当劳和百胜餐饮集团(Yum Brands)旗下的肯德基(KFC)等外国快餐品牌多年享有清洁、优质和安全的美誉。近年中国爆发一连串食品安全丑闻，包括婴儿奶粉添加三聚氰胺，该事件造成6名婴儿死亡，数十万婴儿需要就医。

But recently, supplier scandals have hit both big US chains hard, with KFC facing several successive allegations of substandard supplier practices. Yum Brands was also targeted in the July expired meal allegations.

然而最近，供应商丑闻冲击了这两大美国快餐连锁品牌，肯德基连续数次受到供应商操作不合标准的指控。去年7月，百胜也同样被指控使用过期肉。

The Shanghai government responded to the media exposé by closing down the affected factory of Shanghai Husi Food Co, a subsidiary of US food group OSI, and detaining staff.

对于媒体曝光的事件，上海市政府的回应是查封涉事的美国福喜集团(OSI)子公司上海福喜食品有限公司(Shanghai Husi Food Co)，并刑拘了一些员工。

Problems with food quality have also coincided with other trends that have challenged western fast-food brands, industry analysts say. “Fast-food consumers in China have shifted away from their original curiosity about western fast food, and nowadays they are pickier and more focused on health,” said Shi Jun, catering industry analyst at Beijing-based Alliance PKU Management.

行业分析师表示，食品质量问题出现之际，其他潮流也对西方快餐品牌构成了挑战。“中国的快餐消费者已不再像最初那样对西方快餐感到好奇，现在他们更挑剔、更关注健康，”总部位于北京的北大纵横管理咨询公司(Alliance PKU Management)的餐饮业分析师史俊说。

“McDonald’s is facing more pressure from fast-casual restaurants and Chinese quick-service chains as consumers look at alternatives that they increasingly view as more healthful and safer,” said Mr Cavender.

“随着消费者把目光投向他们越来越觉得更为健康和安全的替代品，快速休闲餐厅和中式快餐连锁店给麦当劳带来了更多压力，”卡文德尔说。

KFC remains the clear market leader with 4,600 outlets, more than double the 2,000 McDonald’s. But Dicos — a Taiwanese-owned fast-food chain strongest in lower-tier cities, with cheaper menus — recently eclipsed the US burger chain with 2,200 stores. It planned to have nearly 3,000 by the end of last year.

肯德基在中国的门店有4600家，比拥有2000家门店的麦当劳多出一倍多，是这个市场遥遥领先的领跑者。但餐品更为便宜、在二三线城市势力最强的台资快餐连锁店德克士(Dicos)，不久前以2200家门店的数量超过了麦当劳。按照德克士的计划，该集团截至去年底已将门店增加到近3000家。

India: legal dispute eats away early advantage

印度：法律纠纷侵蚀了先发优势

McDonald’s ought to be well-positioned to profit from surging demand for convenient, clean and affordable meals in India. The market for Western-style fast-food is still relatively small, but growing rapidly as a young population increasingly grabs meals on the go, or celebrates special occasions by dining out, writes Amy Kazmin in New Delhi.

印度市场对方便、清洁和价格适中的餐饮需求激增，麦当劳应该处于有利地位，能够从中获利。印度的西式快餐市场规模仍相对较小，但增长很快，越来越多的年轻人在忙碌的生活中匆匆解决一餐，或者外出就餐以庆祝特殊的时刻。

An early Western arrival into India’s competitive food market, McDonald’s worked for years to overcome a fundamental problem. Its core product offering — beef burgers — is taboo for India’s Hindu-majority population.

作为较早进入印度竞争激烈的食品市场的西方餐饮品牌，多年来麦当劳努力克服一个根本层面的问题：其核心产品是牛肉汉堡，而在大部分人口为印度教教徒的印度，牛肉是禁忌。

Although it has finally found a recipe to appeal to Indian palates — through ample chicken and vegetarian offerings — McDonald’s is locked in a bitter legal dispute with an estranged former partner, which has stymied the chain’s expansion.

尽管麦当劳最终找到了迎合印度人口味的“菜谱”——借助多种鸡肉和素食产品，但该公司与前合作伙伴闹翻，双方纠结于激烈的法律纠纷，阻碍了这家连锁餐饮公司扩张的步伐。

McDonald’s is fighting entrepreneur Vikram Bakshi for control of Connaught Plaza Restaurants, their erstwhile joint venture, which owns and operates 185 McDonald’s restaurants in north and east India.

麦当劳正在和企业家维克拉姆•巴克希(Vikram Bakshi)争夺双方过去建立的合资企业Connaught Plaza Restaurants的控制权。该企业拥有并经营印度北部和东部共185家麦当劳餐厅。

McDonald had sought to buy Mr Bakshi out of the venture since 2008, but the two sides had deep differences on pricing. Simmering tensions finally erupted in 2013, when McDonald’s ousted Mr Bakshi from his role as managing director of the joint venture, after 18 years.

自2008年以来，麦当劳试图买断巴克希在合资企业所持股份，但双方在价格上分歧颇深。不断发酵的紧张最终在2013年爆发，麦当劳宣布任职18年的巴克希将不再担任该合资企业的董事总经理。

Mr Bakshi has since filed a lawsuit before India’s Company Law Board, accusing McDonald’s of mismanagement. Last month, the Delhi High Court issued a stay order, preventing McDonald’s from proceeding with international arbitration in London, as the company says it is entitled to do under the terms of its joint venture agreement with Mr Bakshi.

此后巴克希在印度的公司法委员会(Company Law Board)对麦当劳提起诉讼，指控麦当劳管理不当。去年12月，德里高级法院下发了一项暂缓令，阻止麦当劳将案件提交到伦敦进行国际仲裁。麦当劳表示，根据其与巴克希签订的合资条款，它有权采取这一行动。

McDonald’s is expanding in India’s prosperous south and west region, where its other Indian partner, Hardcastle Restaurants, was converted from a joint venture into a master franchisee in 2010.

麦当劳正在印度繁荣的南部和西部地区扩张，活跃在这些市场的另一家印度合作伙伴Hardcastle Restaurants已在2010年从合资伙伴转型为主加盟商。

But McDonald’s dispute with Mr Bakshi is allowing rivals such as Domino’s, KFC and Subway, to erode its former lead.

但麦当劳与巴克希的纠纷让达美乐比萨(Domino’s)、肯德基和赛百味(Subway)得以蚕食麦当劳过去的领先地位。

McDonald’s was India’s biggest Western fast-food chain in 2008 with revenues of Rs6.6bn, according to Euromonitor data. That was more than double Domino’s sales of Rs3.2bn. KFC, with revenues of Rs1.5bn, lagged far behind.

根据咨询公司欧睿(Euromonitor)的数据，2008年麦当劳是印度最大的西方快餐连锁企业，收入为66亿卢比，是销售额为32亿卢比的达美乐比萨的两倍多，而收入仅为15亿卢比的肯德基远远落在了后面。

McDonald’s revenues in India hit Rs14.2bn last year. But Yum Brand’s KFC had nearly caught up, with Rs12.5bn in sales. Domino’s, which in India is operated by Mumbai-listed Jubilant Foodworks, surpassed McDonald’s with revenues of Rs16.2bn.

去年，麦当劳在印度市场上的收入达到142亿卢比。但百胜旗下的肯德基几乎赶上了麦当劳，销售额达到125亿卢比。达美乐比萨在印度的业务由孟买上市的Jubilant Foodworks运营，其去年收入达到162亿卢比，超过了麦当劳。

Japan: consumer backlash against cost cuts

日本：缩减成本引发消费者反弹

McDonald’s Japan had its own management shake-up in the summer of 2013 when the US head office brought in Sarah Casanova, a 24-year McDonald’s veteran, to run the local unit. The chain had enjoyed nearly a decade of strong growth in its second-biggest market. But sales in Japan — with some 3,100 outlets — started slowing as consumers became disgruntled with its service and food offerings, writes Kana Inagaki in Tokyo.

2013年夏季，麦当劳日本改组了管理层。美国总部指派在麦当劳工作了24年的老将萨拉•卡萨诺瓦(Sarah Casanova)执掌日本部门。在此前的近10年期间，麦当劳在其第二大市场日本实现了强劲增长。但是随着消费者对麦当劳的服务和食品产生不满，其在日本约3100家门店的销售额开始放缓。

The McDonald’s brand became synonymous with cost cuts and a push for efficiency, highlighted by the backlash in late 2012 when Japanese stores pulled menus from its counters to shorten the time taken by customers placing orders. Angry consumers punished the chain by dragging its sales down for almost all of 2013, excluding May and June.

麦当劳的品牌成了削减成本追求效率的代名词，这一点在2012年末表露无遗。当时麦当劳门店将菜单从柜台撤下，以求缩短顾客点单的时间，此举引发了消费者反弹。愤怒的消费者对麦当劳的惩罚就是拉低了该公司2013年除5月和6月外几乎全年的销售额。

But instead of stemming the slide in sales, Ms Casanova’s term has been plagued by a series of troubles that began with a chicken safety scare at its China-based supplier last July. Delays in imports of US potatoes forced the chain to ration sales of its French fries in December.

但是卡萨诺瓦的团队未能专注于遏止销售下滑，而是遭遇一连串麻烦的困扰——从去年7月中国供货商爆出鸡肉安全问题开始。去年12月，美国土豆进口的延误迫使麦当劳限量供应薯条。

The problems were capped by a flood of complaints that came to light this month when objects — from a human tooth to pieces of vinyl and a bracelet — were found inside its products. McDonald’s Japan, which is half owned by the US group, now expects its first annual loss in 11 years, totalling Y17bn ($144m), after sales tumbled by double-digits since July.

这还不算，今年1月媒体曝光日本麦当劳食品里竟然发现牙齿、塑料片、手镯等异物。一半股份在美国总部手中的日本麦当劳，自去年7月以来销售额出现两位数下降，现在预计将面临11年以来首次年度亏损，总计170亿日元（合1.44亿美元）。

“McDonald’s is already no longer a must-go place. They must regain consumer trust or else people would just not be interested in them any more,” said Nomura analyst Kyoichiro Shigemura.

“麦当劳不再是必去之地。他们必须重新赢得消费者的信任，否则人们将不再对他们有兴趣，” 野村证券(Nomura)分析师重村京一郎(Kyoichiro Shigemura)说。

Ms Casanova has promised steps to ensure food safety through increased audits of suppliers. McDonald’s Japan also plans to remodel its stores and offer a wider line-up of menus, with better pricing.

卡萨诺瓦承诺，将通过加强供应商审核等措施确保食品安全。日本麦当劳还计划改造其门店，以更实惠的价格提供更丰富的菜品。

But analysts say it will be a hard road ahead to restore confidence in a market known for its finicky and picky consumers. When Ms Casanova appeared at a news conference in July, she was criticised for failing to appear apologetic enough. Three months later when she spoke again, she wore a dark suit with her hairstyle in a tight updo.

但分析师们表示，在以消费者挑剔闻名的日本市场，恢复信心的道路将非常坎坷。卡萨诺瓦去年7月出席一个记者会时，外界批评她未能展现足够的歉意。当她3个月后再度发言时，她穿了深色西服并梳了一个高发髻。

“A new start is always a good thing,” she said.

“新的开始总是件好事儿，”她说。

Russia: burger business caught up in geopolitics

俄罗斯：卷入地缘政治的汉堡业

McDonald’s has long been portrayed as a success story in Russia, but over the past six months the fast food company has fallen foul of deteriorating relations between Moscow and the US, writes Courtney Weaver in Moscow.

麦当劳在俄罗斯一直被描述为成功典范，但在过去6个月期间，这家快餐企业成了美俄关系恶化的受害者。

In late July, as the EU prepared its strongest sanctions against Russia to date, a regional branch of Russia’s consumer protection agency suddenly announced that certain McDonald’s items ranging from its cheeseburgers to Caesar wraps did not meet Russia’s health safety standards. This was either because they contained evidence of E-coli or because they contained more carbohydrates and calories than the menu stated, according to the agency.

去年7月，就在欧盟准备对俄罗斯出台截至当时最严厉的制裁之际，俄罗斯消费者保护机构的一个地方分部突然宣布，包括芝士汉堡和凯撒卷在内的某些麦当劳产品不符合俄罗斯的健康安全标准。该机构宣称，这些产品要么含有存在大肠杆菌的证据，要么碳水化合物和卡路里含量超过菜单上标明的份量。

In late August, the agency’s federal branch went further, temporarily shutting down four McDonald’s outlets, including its flagship location on Moscow’s Pushkin Square — McDonald’s first ever restaurant in Russia and one of its biggest locations by sales in the world.

去年8月，该机构的联邦分部更进一步，暂时关停4家麦当劳门店，包括位于莫斯科普希金广场(Pushkin Square)的旗舰店，当年这是麦当劳在俄罗斯开设的第一家门店，也是按销售额计算世界上最大的麦当劳门店之一。

By October, 200 out of McDonald’s 440 Russian restaurants were under government investigation, with as many as nine McDonald’s outlets closed during the period.

到去年10月，麦当劳在俄罗斯的440家门店中有200家受到了政府调查，多达9家门店在那期间关闭。

The Russian agency, known as Rospotrebnadzor, has since finished its inspections and all the McDonald’s outlets that were closed have been reopened. However, the difficulties for McDonald’s in Russia are continuing.

自那以来，俄罗斯联邦消费者权利保护和福利监察局(Rospotrebnadzor)已结束了检查，所有关闭的麦当劳门店重新开业。然而，麦当劳在俄罗斯面临的困难依然存在。

The fast-food group is now the subject of dozens of Russian court cases related to the agency’s findings, the FT’s Russian sister paper Vedomosti reported on Thursday.

英国《金融时报》的姐妹报纸、俄罗斯《纪录报》(Vedomosti)近日报道，上述政府机构的调查发现已导致麦当劳在俄罗斯面临几十起诉讼。

Some of the court complaints relate to McDonald’s lack of a centralised laundromat for its employees’ uniforms, while others take issue with the layout of McDonald’s kitchens and the separation of different food products. McDonald’s counters that the layout required by Rospotrebnadzor does not reflect modern food industry standards when many food products are processed.

一些诉讼涉及麦当劳没有集中的员工制服洗衣房，另一些诉讼则杯葛麦当劳的厨房布局和对不同食物的分隔。麦当劳反驳称，俄罗斯消费者保护机构要求的厨房布局，并不反映现代食品行业对于生产经营多种食品的标准。

Other court cases relate to McDonald’s alleged mislabelling of its food products.

另一些诉讼案指控麦当劳在食品上贴的标签有错。

Russia’s consumer protection agency and health ministry have repeatedly insisted that the McDonald’s investigations have nothing to do with the geopolitical backdrop.

俄罗斯消费者保护机构和卫生部一再坚称，对麦当劳的调查与地缘政治大背景无关。

But in the past few months, McDonald’s has figured in close to 100 Russian court cases, Vedomosti reports. In the previous seven years, it only figured in 10.

但据《纪录报》报道，过去几个月，麦当劳被卷入了近100起俄罗斯法庭诉讼。而在之前的7年间，涉及麦当劳的诉讼案仅有10起。

Latin America: regional woes hit revenues

拉美：区域性困境冲击收入

Paula, a McDonald’s worker in São Paulo, says she cannot think of anything worse than eating hamburgers for lunch every day, writes Samantha Pearson in São Paulo.

圣保罗的麦当劳员工葆拉(Paula)说，她想像不出比天天午餐吃汉堡更糟糕的事。

“You saw what happened to the man in that documentary from America, right?” she said, referring to Super Size Me, the 2004 documentary in which film-maker Morgan Spurlock eats only at McDonald’s for a month.

“你也看到那部美国纪录片里的人怎样了，对吧？”她说。她指的是2004年的纪录片《超码的我》(Super Size Me)，摄制该片的摩根•斯普尔洛克(Morgan Spurlock)在一个月里只吃麦当劳。

However, after a string of complaints, Paula and the rest of Brazil’s McDonald’s employees now have the option of eating a typical Brazilian meal of rice, beans and beef in their breaks instead.

然而，在一连串的抱怨后，葆拉和巴西麦当劳的其他员工现在可以选择在休息时吃传统的巴西餐——米饭、豆子和牛肉。

The option is even available to customers for R$23 (US$9) if they look hard enough, she said, pointing to the small print at the bottom of the menu.

葆拉指着菜单底部的一行小字说，即使顾客也可以花23巴西雷亚尔（合9美元）购买这样的一餐——如果他们看的够仔细的话。

Catering to local tastes in the region, however, is not the only challenge for Arcos Dorados, the Buenos Aires-based company that owns the exclusive right to operate McDonald’s restaurants in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

迎合当地人的口味并不是Arcos Dorados面临的唯一挑战。这家总部位于布宜诺斯艾利斯的公司拥有20个拉美和加勒比国家麦当劳餐厅的独家运营权。

In the three months to September 30, the company recorded consolidated revenues of $904m, down 11.5 per cent from the previous year. Arcos accounts for only about 6 per cent of McDonald’s global sales.

截至去年9月30日的3个月里，该公司的合并收入为9.4亿美元，同比下降了11.5%。在麦当劳全球销售额中，来自Arcos的销售额仅占6%。

The problems at Arcos are largely related to local competition and the macroeconomic environment of its five main markets, said Martha Shelton, equity analyst at Itaú BBA.

Itaú BBA的股票分析师玛莎•谢尔顿(Martha Shelton)说，Arcos面临的问题大多与5个主要市场的当地竞争和宏观经济形势有关。

Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela make up 80 per cent of the company’s sales, in that order, she said.

谢尔顿表示，该公司80%的销售额来自5个国家，按高低排序依次为巴西、阿根廷、墨西哥、波多黎各和委内瑞拉。

In Venezuela, Arcos has been hit by the country’s deepening economic crisis and shortfalls of basic goods — McDonald’s restaurants across the country even ran out of fries this month, according to local media. In Argentina, high inflation has weighed on profits.

在委内瑞拉，不断加深的经济危机和基本物资的短缺困扰着Arcos。据当地媒体报道，上月该国的麦当劳餐厅竟然没有薯条可卖。在阿根廷，高通胀影响了盈利。

“We expect Arcos Dorados’ growth strategies to reflect efforts in minimising exposures to these two countries,” said Moody’s in a note.

“我们预期，Arcos Dorados的增长战略将反映出把这两个国家的风险敞口降到最低的努力，”评级机构穆迪(Moody’s)在一份简报中表示。

In Brazil, which accounts for more than half of Arcos’s sales, currency depreciation and a slowdown in consumption, even during the World Cup last year, have eroded profits.

巴西市场占Arcos总销售额的一半以上。在巴西，货币贬值和消费放缓削弱了麦当劳的盈利，即使世界杯也未能扭转局面。

In Mexico, Arcos has also struggled to compete with the informal market — the man selling tacos on the street corner who even extends credit to his best customers. “That will always cause difficulties for hamburger chains,” said Itaú’s Ms Shelton.

在墨西哥，Arcos还要竭力与非正规市场展开竞争——街角卖墨西哥卷的小贩甚至愿意让关系最好的客人赊账。“这总会给汉堡连锁品牌造成许多困难，”Itaú BBA的谢尔顿说。

Europe: ideas laboratory hit by economic downturn

欧洲：经济衰退冲击创意实验室

Steve Easterbrook’s reward for his successful stint at the head of the UK division was to be appointed president of McDonald’s Europe. When he quit in 2011 to head PizzaExpress, Europe was MacDonald’s fastest-growing region, writes Roger Blitz in London.

史蒂夫•伊斯特布鲁克负责麦当劳英国分部运营时表现非常出色，作为回报，他被总部任命为麦当劳欧洲区总裁。2011年他从麦当劳跳槽到PizzaExpress出任首席执行官时，欧洲是麦当劳增长最快的区域。

Commonly a laboratory for the company’s new ideas, McDonald’s Europe was attracting customers with high-end beef, breakfast and garden wraps.

欧洲通常是麦当劳新创意的试验场。当时欧洲麦当劳正以上乘牛肉、早餐和田园卷吸引顾客。

Mr Easterbrook’s strategy suited recession-hit Europe. Cash-poor Europeans swallowed their misgivings about the godfather of American-imported fast-food culture and stepped gingerly inside McDonald’s restaurants — lured by some tailored offerings.

伊斯特布鲁克的战略很适合经济衰退的欧洲。在一些量身定制产品的诱惑下，手头拮据的欧洲人按捺住对美式快餐文化“教父”麦当劳的疑虑，小心翼翼地迈进了这家连锁餐厅的大门。

France got a McBaguette, and gave McDonald’s its most profitable international market. Sales across more than 1,200 restaurants in France topped $5bn.

推出麦法棍(McBaguette)的法国，是麦当劳最为盈利的国际市场。1200多家法国门店的销售总额高达50亿美元。

But its most recent results suggest that, as in other markets, many European consumers are now spoilt for choice when it comes to fast food. Fourth-quarter same-store sales dropped 1.1 per cent and operating income was down 14 per cent.

但最新结果似乎表明，就像在其他市场那样，可供欧洲顾客选择的快餐太多了。去年第4季度，同店销售额降低了1.1%，运营利润降低了14%。

While the UK was doing well, the company was suffering from “consumer confidence issues” in Russia and Ukraine and weakness in France and Germany.

虽然英国的业绩还不错，但麦当劳在俄罗斯和乌克兰遭遇“消费者信誉危机”，在法国和德国也不太景气。

Competition comes from top-end burger chains, plus fast-food businesses focusing on specialities such as Japanese and Mexican food.

竞争来自于高端汉堡连锁品牌，以及像日本料理、墨西哥美食等特色风味快餐。

McDonald’s is still expanding across Europe, pushing up actual sales. But the decline in like-for-like sales means that the performance overall is “fragile”, said Euromonitor analyst Karla Rendle.

麦当劳依然在欧洲市场扩张，这推高了实际销售额。但是欧睿分析师卡拉•伦德尔(Karla Rendle)说，同店销售额的下滑表明，麦当劳的总体表现比较“脆弱”。

“The poor economic climate in countries such as Greece and Italy will have also impacted McDonald’s sales,” she added.

“在希腊、意大利这样的国家，低迷的经济形势也影响了麦当劳的销售额，”她补充道。

“McDonald’s three main challenges — brand image, market positioning and menu changes — are the same for Europe as they are for the US and the rest of the world.”

“对于麦当劳的三大主要挑战——品牌形象、市场定位、菜单变革，欧洲麦当劳与美国乃至世界其他地方的麦当劳面临着相同的境况。”