Drive-thru milk proves popular at McDonald’s Gold Coast stores
Australia’s McDonald’s franchises are being given more liberty to innovate, with the latest offering being drive-thru 2 litre bottles of milk on the Gold Coast.
All fourteen McDonald’s drive-thru stores on the Gold Coast have been selling 2-litre bottles of Norco milk for the past nine weeks “as a means of convenience” for its customers.
If the idea takes off, McDonald’s is well placed for expansion by diversification and to take advantage of its existing drive-thru facilities.
McDonald’s Gold Coast licensee, Michelle Orton-Dessaix told Australian Food News today that the idea stemmed from customers continuously asking to purchase milk from McCafe.
“Customers would see the bottles of milk in our McCafe and would ask if they could purchase them as they were on the way to drop the kids to school or running late in the mornings,” Ms Orton-Dessaix said.
“It’s really funny how something has taken off so well that is so easy,” she added.
But McDonald’s stores on the Gold Coast do not have any plans to sell bread as suggested by the Gold Coast Bulletin, or any other food products.
“I just don’t know where we would put bread or any other stock. It’s not like people are going to start doing their grocery shopping at Maccas, it is purely for convenience,” Ms Orton-Dessaix said.
McDonald’s Gold Coast stores are selling Norco milk for the price of $3.50 for two litres. McDonald’s has had a long-standing relationship with Norco in its McCafe, and Ms Orton-Dessaix said she was happy to continue partnering with the Australian dairy group.
In January this year, Norco purchased back the sales and marketing function for its milk products from NZ-based dairy company Fonterra. Originally joining with Fonterra in 2007 to grow the company, Norco is one of the few Australian dairy cooperatives selling to retailers directly.
The McDonald’s sale of drive-thru milk is still in a trial phase and is yet to be reviewed by McDonald’s head office later in the year to determine the next step.
The initiative follows the recent dine-in table-service trial currently being trialled at McDonald’s in Warilla, New South Wales.
