Cheap but not tasty

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

According to Consumer Reports magazine in the United States, McDonald's hamburgers are a bomb.

The Golden Arches were the least preferred place to buy a burger according to a recent survey of 28,000 online subscribers who rated burgers at 18 fast food restaurants. The survey was published in the magazine's October issue.

Consumer Reports shot down McDonalds with its 14,000 restaurants, far preferring chains such as In-N-Out Burger, with 247 restaurants in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, as well as the Five Guys chain with 640 restaurants in 42 states.

A reporter who sought out different burgers said of the McDonald's offering: "The major flavor came from the toppings. The bun was airy and bland." But it was cheap – a dollar for a basic burger compared to US$3.50 to $5 for the more upscale foods.

Burger chains have been playing an  increasing role in the food service industry south of the border. So much so, in fact, that analyst Nancy Kruse warned the restaurant trends and directions conference in June that the uptake in numbers of new chains was "unsustainable" and "a bubble."

The growth of the new chains is regarded as an offshoot of "staycations," where consumers holiday close to home rather than travelling afar.

Kruse asserts that better food from these chains has forced fine dining chefs to put free-range, organic, sustainable and farm-grown meats on their menus in order to find a safe niche. BF