McDonald's Japan forecasts Y38 billion net loss for 2015

Originally McDonald's was seen by Japanese consumers as U.S. food. This presented a good image. Now it is seen as Chinese-made food. In the Japanese market unfortunately this is a poor image.

I think sweet and sour sauce would turn things around for them.

Macy D in Japan is just so below standard compared to elsewhere. It's not very fast because few of the workers seem to be able to multi-task and the whole ' let's not choose till we get to the counter' attitude of a lot of the clientele.

I'm not sure where the elsewhere you are comparing it to is, but when I'm in the states, the service is sloppy, things are messy (boxes piled up, and stuff lying around), and I have to check my order to ensure it's right, as screw ups are pretty regular.

Japanese McDs are always impeccably clean, the service is polite, and my order is never wrong.

I'll take Japanese McDs any day.

The company also announced turnaround measures including plans to renovate stores, close 131 underperforming outlets and cut costs.

As Carlos Ghosn famously said, you cannot cut your way to growth, or something similar. The reality is that consumer tastes in japan and elsewhere have changed, and Mc Donald's is simply not perceived as being able to deliver on these new tastes. And some paint and new chairs and tables doesn't fix this either.

I just don't know why they can't offer a burger with fresh lettuce, tomato and onion. That would be a start.

The other problem is the pricing. For a little over the price of a quarter pounder set, I could get a properly made lunch with fresh ingredients served by a waitress at any number of restaurants. McDonald's, with their buying power, has no excuse for not being able to beat the prices of small locally owned restaurants.

Even the morning combi 200 yen sets make no sense. A hot sandwich and coffee for 200 yen is great, but sometimes I'd like a different sandwich with my coffee. That little step up means I pay 460 yen and get some hash brown potatoes I don't need or want. Who is going to pay 2 and a half times for an incremental improvement in their meal? It's like the people who determine prices are completely incompetent.

I agree that their special items, even if it's faux Indian tandoori or Southeast Asian spice, all taste like everything else on their menu. I don't know how they manage that one.

"struggles to bring back customers after a series of food safety scandals" - article

All Fast Food seems to have the same problem with customer loyalty.

There are too many choices to risk one's health over food safety. The customer will easily change one vendor to the next and may not return if the 'scandal' image becomes ingrained.

Most challenging for the customer is trust. If an outlet has a bad reputation or suspicious practices that is likely the kiss of death. Not having used fast food in some ten years the paranoia of imaginary dirty practices has invaded the impression of nearly all fast food. Whether it's the caricature of the disgruntled employee or management driven cost cutting, fast food is a last resort choice.

Frankly, the 2006 "Fast Food Nation" is a likely a cause for the suspicion and perceived unsafe and unpleasant reality of the fast food concept.

Maybe it's because I live in a growing city, but every time I've been to McD's in Japan, it's been fairly busy, especially closer to lunchtime. Granted, it's only been on the weekend, but the stores I've been to seem to do alright. I'm not opposed to McD's. I like going there because the food tastes decent and the cost is cheap, compared to where I lived in the States. Though, I wish they'd serve more than just sandwiches and burgers. I think they need some tortilla wraps and salads. They need to diversify their menu.

All i can say is GOOD, why any1 eats such food is beyond me, you get what you pay for.

@Gary Raynor

I don't know what McDonalds you are eating at, but the quality and service here in Japan is bar none the best I've ever experienced, and I've eaten at my fair share in North America, Europe and other places. The size of the burgers is the same, the freshness is far superior and the burgers look exactly like they do in the poster. That's something that definitely can't be said for the US or Canada. The staff there just don't care.

I think the quality of Japanese McD is actually better than elsewhere, but maybe I used to live in an area where the franchisees were particularly lax and anything would seem like an improvement. But it's still relative because overall, no matter where you live, McD is pretty lousy compared to other burger places. I agree about being willing to pay extra for faster service and better quality and that BK is higher quality. I wish we had a BK here instead of McD. Freshness Burger is way more expensive but the food is also vastly superior to McD.

My wife and I went to MosBurger the other night and she joked about going to McD. "Aren't you curious?" she asked. I told her I was. And I am. We've been checking out locations to see if business looks down, so I did want to take a peek at this one we used to go to near the Mos. We talked about it a little, and then she concluded, "People don't want tooth burgers or pieces of plastic," and that settled the issue.

Taco bell is coming back to Japan. In fact its only a few weeks away from opening their first store in Shibuya. Unfortunately i dont think mexican spices/ cheese suit Japanese palates very well (hence the low number of Mexican restaurants), but i hope they do well.

I think McDonalds should try pushing the healthier options here like they have in Australia, with chicken salads that had low calories and still tasted good. And possibly completely in the other direction they need to bring in frozen cokes in summer!

I literally order my burgers without something on them every time. I don't eat pickles or mustard. It's never been an issue even once. Nothing that could be misconstrued as burn down.

I always cancel the cheese, seasoning and the dehydrated onions. They always cook me up a fresh one. It's never been a problem. I tried a teriyaki burger once and threw it away after one bite. A worker saw me and had the manager come over to ask if everything was ok.

I agree with one poster who, it's the Chinese imports and lack of quality control that has moved customers away.

The service is always good.

It's time for a real fast food burger joint like In N' Out to make its debut in Japan and show everyone how it is done. You don't need a fancy menu, just do what you offer really well. Double double, grilled onions and fresh cut fries with a vanilla shake. Yes please!

I have to agree with some of the posters here. The quality of McDees here in Japan is, in general, far superior than that you'll find in the US. Not to mention better service from staff and cleaner stores. I still prefer Burger King, however. It's too bad not many BKs here.

McDonald's here is really stuck in the 80s. Quality-wise, couldn't fault it. Staff are also great. But the decor, standard menu & annual "seasonal" rehashes need to go. You should see McDonald's in Sydney - they've got a system where you can 'build' your own burgers! They've even started selling the Big Mac sauce in bottles! McDonald's Japan needs to get rid of it's marketing & product teams pronto...

The company also announced turnaround measures including plans to renovate stores, close 131 underperforming outlets and cut costs.

It's mentioned... this is not unusual, though, even successful chains may close nearly as many stores as they open in a given year.

Instead of more burger joints, how about Taco Bell?

Can someone explain to me these two figures? Thanks.

21.84 billion yen net loss last year.

6.71 billion yen last year.

Gaijin DesiApr. 17, 2015 - 11:45AM JST So after sometime they start thinking that Makudonarudo is road side cheap outlet. This is the real problem.

That is because that's exactly what they are. On the contrary, trying to appear as a premium brand is shooting themselves in the foot since the brand is (outside a few poor countries) universally seen as cheap and fast. I haven't been to Mcd for a couple of years because I tended to go a bit too often, but none of the limited / premium burgers were ever any good. They were nothing more than rehashes of their usual ingredients.

Additionally most Mcd "restaurants" I know seem very popular, this must be mostly a management problem rather than a consumer issue.

Consumers are punishing McDonald's for a couple of things:

Not responding to the McNuggets adulteration problem quickly. Management chose to say nothing at first, perhaps thinking the story would go away and customers would "get over it."

The previous few years of confusing marketing, such as the ridiculous American guy speaking Katakana advertising campaign, and confused menu of supposed American local burgers,which didn't exist in the US and didn't make sense to the customers here.

The staff in Japan are consistently great, but the management is sophomoric.

Wow, it seems McD's is having issues all over the world and the complaints seem to be the same: outdated menu and poor quality.

I can verify that the quality in the US is utter crap. With the exception of their chicken wraps, which, while not great, is far better than their burgers and sandwiches.

131 stores. It is mentioned in the story.

Maccy D's is actually good in Japan compared to most other countries.

But compared to other fast food joints like Mos, Freshness, Lotteria and BK, it just doesn't cut the mustard. It's slow, not as tasty and staff are often like zombies. What it really needs to do is up the ante, like other posters here have said. It's not about new seats and decor, it's about the food. Do some more premium burgers, have limited-time offers like Lotteries' five-burger tower burgers or something. Or even do something aimed at the local taste in Japan, so offer a BigMac-don or something similar. Sounds dumb, but will quite possibly work.

Give it up already MD! Just pack your bags and make place for something healthier.

Screw Mc D. There way better tasting burger chains. Japan should try bringing in Carl's Jr. Its fast, cheap, more diversified menue & the burgers are enormous (like the 6$ burgers). Is there anywhere where i can get "chili-cheese fries & a double chili burger" anywhere?

I think its too expensive and the food is usually cold except for filet-o-fish. The stores are always busy in my area. Losing money? Really?

Tell them you want no mayo on your burger or less salt on the fries and you send them into burn down mode.

I literally order my burgers without something on them every time. I don't eat pickles or mustard. It's never been an issue even once. Nothing that could be misconstrued as burn down.

Taco Bell, Del Taco, The Green Burrito . . . Yup, those would be good. But I dnt think Japanese have no idea about mex food or "real" mexican food for that matter.

Big Macs are always luke warm. Yuckers on that. I quit going... Fries alway cool.

Macy Ds in the UK, France, NZ and Turkey used to be much better in quality and service. I don't buy into the zombie approach to service - I might as well be talking to a robot - of Japan as being a good indicator of service on the whole. Tell them you want no mayo on your burger or less salt on the fries and you send them into burn down mode.

McDonald in the UK are awful for service. The place is always a mess, food everywhere, and the staff are terrible. Give me the staff and service in Japan any day of the week. Like night and day comparing them.

I tried McD's Sakuranbo Shake today. A little strange. Nowhere near as good as their previous American Cherry Shake a couple of years ago.

I have never noticed Mcd burgers tasting any different (or worse) than in any other country, I think the equipment is up to par. Personally I found the morning menus annoying, especially when there wasn't any actual burgers available. At least Beck's Cafe etc. have morning menus that are related to what they normally serve.

I agree the Chinese imports probably hurt them, but I still say the restaurants are mostly popular enough and they have a management issue.

McDonald's is poor quality, tasteless food made with crappy ingredients. If I want a burger I choose Mos Burger, they taste better and have the common sense to give you hot drinks in a proper cup.

In some countries (I visited personally) visiting McDonald (Mak Donald) is like a status symbol, and people are ready to pay extra bucks. In Japan (at least in Tokyo) you will see McDonald (Makudonarudo) every 300 meter and people start thinking that there is nothing special in it. So after sometime they start thinking that Makudonarudo is road side cheap outlet. This is the real problem.

Big Mac tastes nice but all the variations they come up with taste awful. Lotteria are much better. I go there for my junk food fix.

StrangerlandApr. 17, 2015 - 09:33AM JST

I'm not sure where the elsewhere you are comparing it to is, but when I'm in the states, the service is sloppy, things are messy (boxes piled up, and stuff lying around), and I have to check my order to ensure it's right, as screw ups are pretty regular.

Point taken, but as someone pointed out, the States, because of the lax and liberal issuing of franchises is the exception, rather than the rule.

Macy Ds in the UK, France, NZ and Turkey used to be much better in quality and service. I don't buy into the zombie approach to service - I might as well be talking to a robot - of Japan as being a good indicator of service on the whole. Tell them you want no mayo on your burger or less salt on the fries and you send them into burn down mode.

It doesn't mention it here, but I read they are planning on closing a number of under-performing branches as well. 100+ branches if I recall correctly.

Macy D in Japan is just so below standard compared to elsewhere. It's not very fast because few of the workers seem to be able to multi-task and the whole ' let's not choose till we get to the counter' attitude of a lot of the clientele. The buns and contents are small and really low quality.

I'd pay extra for a little faster service and better quality. As it is, I avoid them and when the urge takes me, head to BurgerKing; the service there is equally slow, but the burger and contents are higher quality.

Cheap is not always best and McDonalds Japan seems to have lost their way in the early 2000s, when cost cutting became god.

They arent allowed to diversfy their menu like in the states. Ive seen the same stuff on the menu in Japan for how many years now. Occasionally something unique (cough, weird) well appear, then be goneThey also use Japanese equipment to cook with Ive seen this done in other franchises in Japan as well, they just wave the burgers, dont even use a broiler. If the locals want MOS burger or Lotteria, let them have it, its just part of doing business in a xenophobic country. I dont see much success for Taco Bell either. Let a Japanese manage it like they did with Krispy Kreme, but watch it loose its originality. Wendys and BK have made a slight come back but I dont expect much.