YouSaid · the spoken record

Chris Kempczinski

lines on the record: 35
first: 2021-08-05
most recent: 2021-08-05
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I mean, I think it's about as a business we have to be growing. And Ray Croc had a famous line that gets quoted around here fairly often even today, which is if you're not green and growing, you're red and rotten. And I think that philosophy is part of our business, which is we are a growth business. So how do we grow is a big part of it, but where it'll come up is, and things like you were talking about, for example, the menu items, if we're perceived as not meeting the needs of customers, we're not going to grow. So if customers are seeking healthier food options and we're slow on delivering those, it's going to impact our growth. So that's what I view my job as all about.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Nothing ordinarily other than just it's interesting that you didn't like it where I will exercise as CEO authorities around our core menu so you can't touch the Big Mac, you can't touch the quarter pounder, you can't touch the fries, you can't touch hamburger cheeseburger and make any changes to those without my approval. But outside of the core menu, you have a lot of latitude, and certainly on new items.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, we have a great menu team. It's their job to work typically with franchisees and ultimately customers to develop the new food items. Occasionally, I might just say, hey, I'd be interested in trying that. The team will usually humor me on those types of things.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We do. We do. Usually, don't stay there too long. Usually the service isn't as good and the food isn't as good either, but we will go in there to just check.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We will always eat in the restaurant. Dinner, we typically will go somewhere other than McDonald's, but breakfast and lunch will always be in a McDonald's.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, there's a variety of things I'm trying to get done. When I'm out there, the biggest thing is listening. So hearing what's on the mind of our franchisees, hearing what's on the mind of our people, that's one thing I'm looking at. The second is making sure that the strategies that we're talking about at a corporate level are they cascading down, are we seeing those in the restaurants? A lot of times what can happen is you think you've got clarity around what the strategy is and then it doesn't actually end up getting executed. So I'm looking at the connection between our strategy and is it showing up in the execution in the restaurant? I also will just spend time being a little bit of a cheerleader when I go into the restaurant as you would imagine in the role it's about creating excitement and appreciation for the crew working in that restaurant. So I try to do some of that. And then I also make time when I'm traveling to meet our young up-and-coming employees, kind of our high potential. So there's a variety of things I'm doing.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I do expect to travel starting next month and between now and the end of the year I've got five international trips lined up.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I hope not. I try not to think about it too much, actually. But I think when you're in these jobs, you're just very grateful for the time that you're in the role. And I don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about sort of. The future and all that stuff, it's about so long as I keep delivering for the company, so long as we keep performing, I certainly feel really fortunate to be in the role that I'm in.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'd say if what I love is being in consumer industries. For me, what I really find sort of energizing is having a tangible product that I can see, touch, feel, et cetera. And also one that people can relate to. When I say I work at Pepsi or I work at Kraft or I work at McDonald's, immediately you can always have a conversation with people. And kind of the fun thing for me in my current job, no matter where I am in the world, have an opinion about McDonald's and want to talk to you about McDonald's and it just, it makes the job fun.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I was born in Boston, grew up on the east coast until we started moving around, went to high school in Cincinnati, and then ultimately went to college down in North Carolina.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Ray Kroc had a famous line that gets quoted around here fairly often even today, which is if you're not green and growing, you're red and rotten.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's, I think, still a really important part of our business because a lot of the interaction and the memories that people form about McDonald's comes from the dine-in experience. But I think you're right in recognizing that it is certainly through the pandemic a less prevalent part of the business. I mean, our view is that it is going to come back. I think dining and eating is such a social experience. There's always going to be an element of it that is in person. Now, how much of it comes back? Time will tell and if at some point, you know, maybe we need to reduce the space for dining seating that we have in our restaurants, we can always calibrate and do that. But for now, we're kind of on a watch and see mode.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, the app for us, everything is moving to the app. I think for us, it's been an interesting evolution to see where for years and years the center of the relationship that we had with the customer was in the physical restaurant. And what we're seeing, particularly with Gen Z and millennials, is it's moving to a much more of a digital relationship through the app. So yes, today, in almost every single one of our countries, the US being a prime example of that, you can download the McDonald's app. You can order your products through the app. And an exciting thing we're doing right now this month is we're rolling out loyalty. So when you buy with the app, you also get loyalty points you can redeem later for food and other benefits.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We do both. It started for us in Asia where we were doing our own delivery, particularly in China. In the Middle East, we also have a pretty sizable delivery business where we do the delivery ourselves. And then in other parts of the world, like in the US, we have partnered with third party operators like Anuberts or AdorDash. So right now we do about $6 billion of sales a year through delivery, which is growing high teens globally. It's been pretty remarkable.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Drive through is a huge business for us, particularly in the US, it's about 70% of the business in the US. In Europe, you would see at the inverse. You would see Dyn being a much bigger part of the business in Europe. But through the pandemic, we did see drive-thru also become a pretty significant part of the business.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“China is largely a chicken market. I think this is one of those things it does vary depending on which part of the world you're in. Brazil tends to be more of a beef market. U.S. is about 50-50 between chicken and beef. So we do see the trends evolving, but chicken globally is growing faster than beef. And certainly our expectation over the next five years is that chicken more so than beef will be the dominant protein in our restaurants.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, I would agree. I think it's better. One of the things that we have as an advantage is because of the volumes that we do in our restaurant, our volumes tend to be higher than anybody else out there. It allows us to buy equipment that is able to be titrated or calibrated more precisely than maybe some of our competitors. And so what we're able to do because of the equipment that we're able to buy, which is more expensive equipment, is we're able to deliver what Coke would describe as their gold standard product on a more consistent basis than somebody who maybe has inferior equipment in their restaurant.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We've had a few dialogue over the years, and my short answer is the way to get Pepsi into McDonald's is get people to prefer Pepsi over Coke, back to the point of we're going to sell whatever the customer wants. So yes, my Pepsi friends periodically check in.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So you could certainly have right now a salad in a restaurant, depending on if you're a vegetarian or vegan. Vegetarian, there are going to be other offerings that you have. If you're in India, for example, we have quite a broad sample of vegetarian menu items, less so if you're in Lubbock, Texas, for example. So again, it depends on the customer and what the customer wants. But we've also talked about launching McPlant, and McPlant for us is a plant-based burger that is available in some countries already. It's something that we're going to be testing later in the US. So maybe we'll get you a McPlant.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We've tried, and I would say it gets back to again what sells gets on the menu and stays on the menu. What we have seen consistently is as we've tried to broaden more of what people might say are better for you items, there's just not as strong a demand for them as there are for some of our iconoclastics. And so we're not in the business of telling people what they should or shouldn't eat. Our view is our obligation is to provide them with total transparency on nutritional information to make sure that we afford them choice, but ultimately what the consumer buys is up to them.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'd say what we try to do on our menu is to have choice. So we have a variety of things on our menu from more indulgent items to healthier items. And it's no different than if you go to the grocery store. You can go to the salad bar or you can go to the ice cream section. And that's how we approach our restaurant, which is about choice. The other thing, though, I get asked a lot of times, well, why don't you have more of this? Why don't you have more of that? Or why did you get rid of this? It all comes down to did it sell. Our restaurant and what goes on the menu is all based on what moves gets on the menu, what doesn't move comes off the menu. And so ultimately we're letting the customer decide what we do or don't carry on the menu.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We have a room here that I haven't taken you to that has all the secrets on that. But I would just say there's a lot of things that go into it. It's starting with where we get the potatoes from and we have proprietary relationships with that, how those potatoes are then processed, what we will put on those potatoes, and then ultimately how they're cooked in the restaurant, the cooking oil that we use, the amount of salt that we use. There's a lot of things that go into the secret recipe.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I mean, from a volume standpoint, the fries are by far the biggest. Within sandwiches, probably the Big Mac, it does vary a little bit around the world, but the Big Mac is probably up there.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Always have something going on at McDonald's around the world. They're certainly, I think, what you're referencing, there were some protests about either were we doing enough to protect essential workers, which is how we were deemed as a business. We went to a lot of effort there to make sure that we provided PPE and did other things like social distancing in the restaurants, but we had protests on that. What we'll get protests around wage rates, that will crop up. The thing about McDonald's is no matter what has happened.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In the marketplace, our view is we're going to do whatever we need to to be successful as a business, but we also don't oppose if the federal minimum wage is addressed either.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We're above the legal minimum wage, so it's seven and a quarter, and there are very few places these days that you can be competitive in the marketplace paying the federal minimum wage. I think from our vantage point, what we announced in our company-owned restaurants is $11 is the starting wage. And then, you know, as you move up, you would quickly progress through that. If you are a restaurant manager, someone who's been there for a couple years, you're earning anywhere from 15 to $20 an hour. And I think that's been largely, you're seeing a similar type of thing with our franchisees. So while we don't collect information around what is the average wage paid by our franchisees, I would expect it's probably about $10 that we're paying right now. Just because, again, the marketplace is driving it. And I think that's always been one of the questions is, you know, is this something that you want to be legislated or want it to be?”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To come and interview for a job at McDonald's, and you're seeing our franchisees do things like, hey, $50 for an interview or free iPhone after 90 days. I mean, that's sort of all the things that we're having to come up with right now to make sure we can staff the restaurants.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Has been very challenging in the US. We have not seen that issue as pronounced in Europe or elsewhere around the world. But in the US, it certainly has been a challenge. I think it's a lot of different factors in it, certainly the stimulus support had some element, but if I ask the franchisees, okay, so September is everything going to be good once the stimulus rolls off, they'll know there are other things going on. So I think there's a variety of things at play, but it has certainly been a challenge for us on staffing at the restaurants, and it's putting pressure on wages, which is what you see in any kind of capitalist system. So employers like McDonald's are having to pay more on wages. We announced in our company-owned restaurants sort of an across-the-board minimum 10% wage increase. That has been carried forward by many of our franchisees. And I think we're just having to get creative about how do we get people”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I certainly think one of the things that we saw was our ability to stay connected through technology. WebEx, Zoom, Amazon Chime, I've learned all the different teleconferencing tools and they've all worked reasonably well for us. So I think we learn things there that we have the ability to stay connected. I think the other thing, though, that it highlighted for us is we ultimately are an in-person business. We're in person in the restaurants or we're in person in the office. And so you lose something from culture, you lose something from a connectedness by being so remote. And so, you know, while it worked well for the time, we're committed to getting back into our offices, getting back into the restaurants.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We didn't lay anybody off, certainly from the company standpoint, and our franchisees went through quite a bit of effort to make sure that either through government programs or through things that they could do on their own, that they kept attached to their staff, that they kept the staff working and available to the restaurants. And so I think, you know, while we have 40,000 restaurants, I don't know every particular situation. By and large, we were able to retain our workforce through all of that.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Huge issue for us. It varied around the world. Some places went into complete shutdown in the US. We were able to keep the restaurants open, but drive-through only. And that was, I think, part of where the genius of our system came to light, which is if you were trying to manage this situation, everything from Chicago, it never would have worked. The fact that we're a locally owned company with franchisees, they're able to act much more nimbly than we could from the center. And somehow or another, knock on wood a year later, we are in a very strong spot and it's hard to believe really.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“COVID's been an issue that's impacted us in every country that we operated in. 120 countries, and it's been kind of a unique experience because what we've dealt with regional issues before, we've dealt with SARS and MERS and swine flu and things like that, but we've never had an issue where it impacted literally every country all at about the same time.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so you saw getting involved in schools, getting involved with birthday parties, all those things. Those were all part of building the brand that ultimately now I get the benefit of protecting and hopefully further shining the arches.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Think it starts with the brand. I mean, we have a brand that is one of the most valuable brands in the world. And how did you get to that brand? It was a combination of things. I mean, it started with, I think Gray Croc recognized the importance of ubiquity. And so that was part of the genius or genesis of doing a franchise model. Because with a franchise model, he could get capital deployed, get restaurants built more quickly than he could if he was trying to do this all on his own. So that was one idea. I think the second was the production system, this speedy production system. It guaranteed a quality of the experience that people knew no matter where you went. You could get a consistent experience at McDonald's. And then it certainly came from our attachment in the local community. One of the things that also Ray Croc was very focused on was building the brand at the local level. That's why he wanted the franchisees engaged in the restaurant.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“McDonald's has been at the top of the food chain for over 60 years, its CEO, Chris Kemchinski, says it stayed there because of McDonald's' guaranteed quality experience and connection to its communities. In this episode appear to peer, I visited McDonald's headquarters in Chicago to find out what makes their fries so addicting, what makes their Coca-Cola perfect, and how the restaurant plans to stay on top for another 60 years.”
2021-08-05 · The David Rubenstein Show · Chris Kempczinski · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source