June 25--McDonald's wants someone else to run its 414 restaurants in Taiwan, a move that comes as sales in China continue to suffer nearly a year after a supplier's food safety scandal.
The company's search for a developmental licensee in Taiwan is a clear indication of its stepped-up effort to have franchisees run a greater majority of its locations worldwide.
In May, McDonald's said it planned to sell some 3,500 company-owned restaurants to franchisees by the end of 2018, up from a prior target of refranchising at least 1,500 restaurants by 2016. Once that's completed, McDonald's stands to have about 90 percent of its restaurants around the world run by franchisees, up from 81 percent.
The Oak Brook-based company has been running the Taiwan restaurants on its own since opening the first one there in 1984.
McDonald's said developmental licensees have run businesses in more than 70 markets for years. The model "enables faster local decision-making, quicker learning, and restaurant growth," McDonald's said in a statement.
It has been a rough year for McDonald's Asian business. In July, quality issues were uncovered at Shanghai Husi, a unit of Aurora-based meat supplier OSI Group that sold food to McDonald's and other restaurant chains in China. McDonald's results in China, Japan and some other markets were hit by the issue. The restaurant chain has been trying to rebuild customer trust in those areas.
jwohl@tribpub.com
