McCafe

McCafé is a coffee-house-style food and drink chain, owned by McDonald's. Created and launched in Melbourne, Australia in 1993 by McDonald's Licensee Ann Brown,, and introduced to the public with help from late McDonald's CEO Charlie Bell and then-Chairman and future CEO Jim Skinner, the chain reflects a consumer trend towards espresso coffees.

Reports indicated that McCafé outlets generated 15% more revenue than a regular McDonald's and, by 2003, were the largest coffee shop brand in Australia and New Zealand.

International expansion


The first McCafé in the United States opened in Chicago in May 2001, when there were about 300 worldwide. In 2004, McCafé opened in Costa Rica, and the next year, the concept was launched in Italy. In 2007, the chain expanded to Japan as part of McDonald's efforts to boost sales with healthier soup and sandwich offerings and reach out to new customers who favoured traditional coffee shops. Despite being a relatively small part of McDonald's overall strategy, there are currently 1,300 worldwide.

In June 2006, the very first McCafé in Bulgaria opened at the Mall of Sofia.

McCafé arrived in Paraguay in 2007.

McDonald's introduced a coffee line called "McCafé" nationwide in the United States. Unlike in other countries, "McCafé" is just a line of special drinks, not a full coffee shop.

In August 2008, McDonald's expanded their McCafé concept to South Africa, where the McDonald's franchise was already a household name and one of the largest fast-food chains in the country. At the end of 2009, McCafé drinks were available at McDonald's restaurants in the U.S.A. McCafé opened in El Salvador on July 6, 2010, located in McDonald's restaurants in the Zona Rosa and Próceres Boulevard with the goal of providing the aroma, flavor and texture of 100% Salvadorian gourmet coffee.

McCafé opened in Madrid, Spain on June 28, 2008, located in McDonald's Montera restaurants.

In 2011, McDonald's started expansion of McCafé in Ukraine. There are 6 McCafés in Kyiv, 1 in Lviv, 1 in Odessa, 1 in Dnipro, and 1 in Kharkiv as of January 2014.

In July 2010, McCafé added real fruit smoothies to their drink list. In November 2010, they added mocha and hot chocolate to their drink list. In July 2011, they added Frozen Strawberry Lemonade and the Mango Pineapple Smoothie to the U.S. menu.

On November 7, 2011, McDonald's Canada launched McCafé across the nation after previously only being available in select stores. With the introduction of McCafé in Canada, participating McDonald's stores have added mocha, cappuccino, espresso, americano, latte, iced latte, iced mocha and hot chocolate to their menus. With McCafé, McDonald's is now in direct competition with Coffee Time, Country Style, Second Cup, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, and Timothy's in the Canadian coffee market.

On June 16, 2012, McDonald's launched the first McCafé Malaysia in Kota Damansara, with a few others subsequently opening in the Bandar Utama, Subang Jaya, Titiwangsa, and Taman Connaught outlets - all currently located in Klang Valley as well as in Greenlane, Birch House, IJM Promenade and Penang International Airport - all in Penang.

In December 2012, McDonald's announced that it would be bringing the McCafé brand and line of products to all of the McDonald's restaurants in the United Kingdom. This would include the addition of iced frappés, iced fruit smoothies and a rebranding of the standard McDonald's coffee to "McCafé."

On October 14, 2013, McDonald's launched the first McCafé India in the South Mumbai district of Mumbai.

The McDonald's Café and Persona 5
Persona 5 is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus. It is the sixth installment in the Persona series, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan in September 2016 and worldwide in April 2017, and was published by Atlus in Japan and North America and by Deep Silver in Europe and Australia. An enhanced version featuring new content, Persona 5 Royal, was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in October 2019 and worldwide in March 2020. Due to its extreme success and customers getting "Persona Vibes" while eating there, McDonald's used Persona 5's Beneath The Mask in the Café to promote the game and satisfy Persona fans.