ABC News on McCafe

On Wednesday, March 31st ABC's Nightline ran a feature on
McCafe. Now this is pretty much a puff piece as it should be
when McDonald's Operators spend $200 million plus on the
network.

Having viewed the preparation of specialty coffee drinks only
from the customer side of the counter it was interesting to
watch the reporter try to prepare a drink, going through all
of the steps and the correct number of "stirs". If you haven't
worked with this product watch this video and imagine what
happens when you get a drive-thru order for four Iced Mochas.

As a customer and a McDonald's veteran it reminds me of when
we used the original Multimixers to make shakes. If the right
shake was not already in the cabinet the "windowman" had to
leave the front to make their own shake. Assuming the area
was stocked with shake mix and syrups this could take a minute
or more. If you left the shake on the spindle and went to get
another part of the order the shake could well over mix and
destroy itself. Or, you finger spindled the shake destroying
the Bakelite disks and the flywheel that drove the spindle.
In any case, the windowman disappeared from the customer's
view for a seemingly long period of time - not to mention the
customers in line behind the customer being served. The speed
of Direct Draw shake machines was a gift from heaven, especially
since it kept the counter person upfront with the customer.

Aren't Baristas supposed to take care of drink preparation?

Based on my store visits the Baristas are a myth or very few
stores sell enough drinks to afford to staff that position.

The video follows. It's a quick eight minutes.


ABC News On McCafe

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