Leading quick service restaurant giant Golden Arches Development Corporation (McDonald’s Philippines), majority owned and operated by its Chairman & Founder Dr. George T. Yang and President & CEO Kenneth Yang, has carefully navigated the 2020 pandemic through its core commitment to its people and relentless pursuit to provide a frictionless customer experience.
Despite the many challenges posed by the pandemic, McDonald’s was able to leverage its business fundamentals with its safe operating culture, strong brand and community involvement, reinforcing its support to its people (employees and customers)一and fortifying its strategic investments prior to 2020 to accelerate business segments like McDelivery and Drive Thru this year.
A focus on its people
At the onset of the lockdown, McDonald’s was quick to launch the McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen through the Ronald McDonald House Charities, during the enhanced community quarantines by re-purposing the kitchens of its stores that were temporarily closed to prepare the meals of its beneficiaries, especially frontliners who work tirelessly to keep people safe, as well as communities who remain embattled and experience hunger.
Having malasakit ingrained in the company’s values, the QSR giant has served over 460,000 meals to 229 communities, 26 non-government organizations, 133 government agencies, over 250 hospitals, and 61 quarantine centers nationwide to date, and is committed to continue to serve more meals in 2021.
“Our commitment to people has always been embedded in our core values. We understand the significant role we play in ensuring that we support communities in need, especially during the most trying of times,” shares Kenneth Yang.
The company has also allotted the space of the underutilized party rooms for the use of teachers who had difficulties transitioning to distance learning. The opening of over 220 “McClassrooms” in October all over the country with free access to Wi-Fi and McCafé coffee was well received by the public during Teacher’s Month.
Pursuant to its commitment to people, McDonald’s also launched its M Safe program to ensure the safety of its employees, offices and its restaurants in order to serve customers across its different touchpoints safely. It was through the program that the company continued to operate its restaurants safely amidst the quarantine restrictions.
M Safe then became an avenue for the company to demonstrate its commitment to support the government in its bid to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. M Safe was acknowledged by the government and other external stakeholders particularly for its initiatives, including mass testing for its own front-liners (restaurant managers and crew) and the integration of the IATF-endorsed contact tracing system, Stay Safe, across all stores.
McDonald’s further extended its support to Task Force T3, a consortium of private companies that partner with the government for its test, trace and treat initiatives against COVID-19. McDonald’s actively took part in Task Force T3’s Ingat Angat campaign, the country’s biggest consumer confidence campaign to restart the economy safely.
The QSR giant also announced that it will be providing free COVID-19 vaccines for its employees to help the government accelerate the national vaccination program.
