Day 041 - 28 Oct 94 - Page 41
1 self-service restaurants, incidentally?
2 A. I think in this context they mean counter service,
3 where you go up to and, in other words, no waiters or
4 waitresses.
5
6 Q. "And the food it was exporting was as different as were
7 its methods of retailing. Hamburgers, french fries, and
8 milk shakes were an integral part of American culture, but
9 they were not mass-marketed in most foreign countries". Is
10 that true, as far as you can see?
11 A. I do not know, if that is not the case -----
12
13 Q. Does that apply to Europe at all because you have
14 responsibilities for Europe, do you not?
15 A. No, I used to have for a period of about 13, 14
16 months. I do not currently have responsibilities they
17 were not actually formal running market responsibility
18 either; it was an advisory capacity. I would certainly,
19 from my knowledge, say that in different countries around
20 Europe there is a different level of marketing of those
21 sorts of products. But, I will equally say there are
22 countries in Europe where they are quite well-established
23 before McDonald's arrived.
24
25 Q. When did your involvement on the European field begin?
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: This is Mr. Hawkes' personal involvement?
28
29 MR. MORRIS: This is as McDonald's?
30 A. Yes, it was about two years ago.
31
32 Q. Does that cover all countries in Europe?
33 A. No. I was specifically looking over the Scandinavian
34 countries, Portugal and Holland.
35
36 Q. You started two years ago?
37 A. Correct.
38
39 Q. And you still have that responsibility?
40 A. No, it finished in May when I came here.
41
42 Q. So if we can go back: "Hamburgers, french fries, milk
43 shakes were an integral part of American culture, but they
44 were not mass marketed in most foreign countries. Indeed,
45 in Japan and other Far Eastern countries, McDonald's was
46 faced not only with the task of introducing the hamburger
47 but with an even more fundamental challenge of establishing
48 beef as a common food." Is that a fair comment?
49 A. Yes, in terms of our proposition we are a hamburger
50 restaurant, and if McDonald's is to go into a marketplace
51 then it has to sell hamburgers.
52
53 Q. It said: "All things considered, the job of going
54 international seemed even more complicated than
55 diversifying". Why, as someone that promotes McDonald's
56 food, does McDonald's not wish to diversify its product
57 range?
58 A. Basically, we have been successful by running our
59 restaurants as we currently have with a limited menu,
60 knowing what we know and doing what we know well, and we do
