Behind the scenes at McDonald's

BY TINA LAW

If you bought 100 McDonald's shares in 1965 for $2250, today you would own 74,360 shares worth more than $4m.

Walking through Big Mac Boulevard to Hamburger University there is no question I'm in the inner sanctum of one of the world's most well-known fast-food companies.

There is no golden arch at the entrance to its base at Oak Brook, west of Chicago, just a discreet silver sign saying McDonald's Corporation.

That same respect for its surroundings carries on through the 48-hectare complex. No building is above the tree line, which was part of the agreement made with locals.

There are mature trees, lakes, fountains and bush walks, surrounding the buildings where 3000 crew or team members work - they do not call them employees at McDonald's.

The site is also home to a 220-room Hyatt hotel and a Hamburger University where more than 5000 trainees learn the McDonald's way each year. The university - also home to a small museum - has 13 teaching rooms, a 300-seat auditorium, and three training kitchens which can be set up in any language. Hamburger University now has campuses in Sydney, Munich, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Brazil.

The corporate headquarters has a fully functioning McDonald's restaurant for the staff. Tour guide Heidi Barker, a member of the public relations team, says she eats at the restaurant twice a day. She and other staff pay full price and are more than happy to do so, she says. "We all love eating here."

The comment is said with such sincerity to make even a cynical journalist believe her.

Barker says if you did not like McDonald's food, then you would not work for the company.

We were allowed to order whatever we wanted from the menu, but unlike the staff we did not have to pay. We had just eaten lunch elsewhere but I was not going to let that stop me from having the chance to eat at McDonald's ground zero.

Surely this McDonald's restaurant should produce the best of the best, but somewhat disappointingly the cheeseburger and fries tasted no different to what I had eaten in New Zealand and that, Barker tells me, is because "McDonald's strives for consistency across the system".

It could also be because there is a high chance some of the ingredients were sourced in New Zealand.

Fonterra is one of McDonald's suppliers. In 2008, New Zealand producers exported more than $270 million worth of food to McDonald's restaurants worldwide. This includes cheese made at Fonterra's Eltham plant in Taranaki, and Fonterra's The Pastryhouse business.

There are eight test kitchens at the headquarters where head chef Dan Coudreaut develops new recipes. We see some work going on in the kitchen, but are not allowed to get too close.

Walking through the headquarters we see people working inside cubes without doors. We are told no-one has their own office, but there are conference rooms and phone closets for private meetings and talks.

The McDonald's story began in 1948 when Dick and Mac McDonald opened a restaurant in California selling US15c hamburgers. A year later they added french fries and triple thick milkshakes to the menu.

A short film about the history of McDonald's tells us that in 1954 the McDonald brothers ordered eight milkshake machines from Ray Kroc. Kroc had never had an order for that many of his Multimixer machines before so he visited the McDonald brothers and bought the franchise agreement.

Kroc opened his first store in 1955 just down the road from where the international headquarters now stand.

One of his famous sayings was "if you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean".

In 1961 Kroc bought out the McDonald's brothers for US$2.7m (NZ$4m). By 1965 Kroc had franchised more than 700 McDonald's restaurants throughout the United States. There are now 32,000 around the world.

Today the company has annual revenues of US$23.5 billion and since 2007 it has returned US$14.3b to shareholders. International sales have increased for 68 months in a row.

In 1956 Kroc hired Fred Turner to work in the restaurant and he soon worked his way up to become chairman and head of operations.

That tradition continues today, as Barker tells us everyone in the corporate office is capable of flipping a burger, and will often don an apron to help out in the on-site restaurant.

Kroc died in 1984 at the age of 81, but Turner, 78, still works at the international headquarters and is now honorary chairman.

"He's still very much involved. He's like our rock star. People get very excited when they see him in the building," Barker says.

Ever since we left the McDonald's compound, every time I pass a restaurant I feel it pulling me in - maybe there was a hidden message in that film we watched.

* McDonald's has 32,000 restaurants in 118 countries.

* It employs 1.6 million people worldwide.

* In 2008 its revenues were US$23.5 billion.

* New Zealand producers including Fonterra exported more than NZ$270m of food to McDonald's restaurants around the world in 2008.

* McDonald's sells more chicken than beef in the United States.

Tina Law travelled to Chicago courtesy of Fonterra.

- © Fairfax NZ News