McOz<\/a> – a hamburger that included beetroot and grilled onions. As a promotion, it was a huge success, and sold well.<\/p>\nAt the end of the promotion, they took it off the menu and returned to their normal fare.<\/p>\n
\nIn 1999, I heard a radio interview of a McDonald’s employee. The interviewer was a big fan of the McOz, and was demanding answers for why the McOz had been taken off the menu when it was clearly so popular.<\/p>\n
The answer given was supply problems. The McDonald’s employee claimed that McDonald’s sold so many McOz burgers that they would need more than the entire beetroot crop of Australia. They just couldn’t get enough beetroot, so they couldn’t sell the burger.<\/p>\n
This got me thinking.<\/p>\n
My first thoughts were along the lines of “Wow! That’s a lot of beetroot! What a problem to have!”<\/p>\n
My second thoughts were along the lines of “Really? That’s a lot of beetroot! Is this story true? I wonder how much beetroot McDonald’s would need, and how much spare capacity was available from the local beetroot crop.” (I never did the research to check this.)<\/p>\n
Then I realised that the free market has a perfectly good way to balance supply and demand, and it isn’t by withdrawing your product from the market. It’s by raising the price. Charge $10 per burger, $20 per burger, whatever the amount is that brings down demand to match the supply. When demand outweighs supply, you don’t withdraw – you go full steam ahead, and make bucket loads of money.<\/p>\n
That got me thinking further. Imagine if beetroot was everything that the radio interviewer seemed to think it was – a delicacy that played a pivotal role in defining the hamburger, the meal, the whole eating-out experience. Imagine if people really liked it. I mean, really, really liked it. Imagine if the supply was so small and the demand was so high, McDonald’s could successfully sell hamburgers containing beetroot for $50 each, for a giant markup.<\/p>\n
Here’s my big question: Could McDonald’s afford to charge that much for a hamburger? <\/p>\n
For example, would that change the clientele? Would they lose their young customer base, in return for a more yuppie crowd? Would the new clientele demand better seating, nicer lighting, quieter atmosphere and a liquor license? Would they reject the idea of drinking from a paper cup and having the gourmet meal stuffed into the bottom of a paper bag?<\/p>\n
Would it require a change in their security procedures? They can afford a certain amount of loss due to staff giving away cheap or free meals to their mates. Could they continue to afford that if the meals costs over $50 each? Would they need to introduce more security? Hire more experienced people?<\/p>\n
Maybe McDonald’s is not in a position to play in the upper end of the market, even if the mark-ups were that high.<\/p>\n
I don’t know the answer here, I just find it an interesting idea to ponder.<\/p>\n
\nCoda: In 2000, the following year, McDonald’s brought back the McOz and made it a permanent fixture in Australian McDonald’s restaurants. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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