McDonald's lures back Asians with rice

McDonald's lures back Asians with rice

Agence France-Presse, Hong Kong

U.S. fast-food giant McDonald's has turned to rice dishes for the first time in a battle to entice Hong Kong's Chinese diners in the increasingly competitive fast-food market.

However, McDonald's new menu of grilled chicken with rice and mushroom sauce and chicken cutlets with rice and curry sauce have yet to win over its customers used to the hamburgers and French fries it introduced to Hong Kong 27 years ago.

Office clerk Henry Tang, 23, said he sampled the new menu out of curiosity when it was first served only in the evening on Monday, adding: "I will go to a Chinese restaurant for such meals, but I'm used to hamburgers now."

Tang was dining at one of McDonald's 188 outlets in Hong Kong -- a popular hangout for the territory's younger generation.

Another diner who declined to be named said: "McDonald's has probably come to realize at the end that rice is still a staple food in Asia."

A McDonald's spokesman claimed the initial response to the new menu had been "extremely positive," adding it was too early to draw any conclusions.

"McDonald's will constantly review demand and launch new products when appropriate as we always do," the spokesman said in a statement to AFP.

The rice menu is also being offered at McDonald's outlets in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Other fast-food outlets such as KFC, Hardies and Cafe De Coral have been offering rice menu for years.

In recent months several Chinese restaurants have been closing down in Hong Kong because of an economic downturn in the former British colony.

Ho Kwok-leung, assistant professor of applied sociology at the Polytechnic University, told local media that it was obvious McDonald's move was aimed "to increase its competitiveness."

Ho expressed concern the chain's move could turn local caterers to adopt the fast-food style.