Returning to the Place Where It All Started: McDonald's Marks 44 Years in the Philippines at Its First Morayta Location

“When I brought McDonald’s to the Philippines, I initially envisioned opening 10 branches. Forty-four years later, the Philippines now ranks as one of the top 10 McDonald’s markets in the world, and we have more than 800 stores across the country. This is why I consider it important to shine a spotlight on McDonald’s Morayta, where it all began. It is also our reminder to stay focused on our customers, so that each moment they spend in our stores will create lasting memories for years to come. McDonald’s Morayta also saw our very first batch of working students, many of whom were driven to gain substantial work experience while also pursuing their studies. Our commitment to supporting working students remains true today. I’m happy to say that 70 percent of our workforce are working students.” ~Dr. George T. Yang, McDonald’s Philippines Chairman and Founder

McDonald’s Morayta today

McDonald's Philippines is constructing a commemorative sign at its historic first store on Morayta Street in Manila to honor 44 amazing years in the nation.

On October 28, McDonald's Philippines President and CEO Kenneth S. Yang and Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso ceremoniously unveiled the memorial honoring McDonald's Philippines Chairman and Founder Dr. George T. Yang.

McDonald’s Philippines Chairman and Founder Dr. George T. Yang (right) is joined by McDonald’s Philippines President and CEO Kenneth S. Yang, Ronald McDonald, and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso at the unveiling of the commemorative marker at McDonald’s Morayta, the first McDonald’s store in the country. 

Located in the middle of the country's University Belt, McDonald's Morayta holds a special place in the hearts of students, family, friends, and coworkers.   The memorial honors this well-known business, where many joyful memories have been shared by generations of Filipinos.

As part of its continued commitment to giving back to the community it has served for more than 40 years, McDonald's was able to celebrate this milestone celebration with the local community by throwing an exciting and heartfelt McDo Party for over forty children from the Manila Child Development Center.

McDonald’s Morayta 1981 

The Morayta store opened in 1981, soon after Dr. Yang was granted the exclusive franchise to operate McDonald’s in the Philippines. 

In 2005, McDonald's Philippines was fully owned by Filipinos after a number of noteworthy turning events.   Earlier this year, Dr. Yang and Kenneth Yang received a new license to operate McDonald's across the country for the next 20 years, a clear endorsement of their management and leadership.   During the period of heightened growth that coincided with the new-term license, the company opened and operated outlets in nearly every province in the country, bringing the McDonald's experience closer to every Filipino.

“We continue to build on the exceptional McDonald’s experience that our customers have grown up with and continue to love. Because our operations are guided by our strong values and our passion for excellence, we are confident that our customers can enjoy the same great-tasting and high-quality food, and the same top-notch customer service in any of our 800-plus stores nationwide.” ~Mr. Kenneth Yang,

McDonald’s Philippines Chairman and Founder Dr. George T. Yang with one of the first batches of McDonald’s Morayta service crew in 1981.

GTY and Ronald McDonald stand next to the commemorative marker at the  McDonald’s Morayta store.

McDonald's is the only quick service restaurant (QSR) in the Philippines that employs direct hiring, and it continues to spend heavily in local employment and talent development.   Since 1981, McDonald's has employed non-contractualization to provide job stability and promotion opportunities to its talent pool of over 70,000 employees.   Through an excellent, all-inclusive training and development program that benefits them both inside and outside the company, every McDonald's employee, regardless of age, gender, or experience, has the opportunity to upgrade their abilities.   This year, the People Management Association of the Philippines named McDonald's Philippines Employer of the Year, a testament to the company's exceptional standards for hiring and developing individuals.

A closer look at the McDonald’s Morayta commemorative marker.

In addition to boosting socioeconomic activity, McDonald's Philippines is still dedicated to improving local communities through environmental and sustainability initiatives under the Green & Good platform and initiatives that promote positive community impact through the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

About McDonald’s Philippines

McDonald’s Philippines master franchise holder Dr. George T. Yang—who oversees and sits as chairman for 40 years—founded and brought the first McDonald’s store to the country in 1981. Since then, McDonald’s in the Philippines has been a formidable player in the country’s quick-service restaurant industry, having grown a store network of more than 800 stores nationwide with a workforce of more than 70,000 employees. Under the leadership of President and CEO Kenneth S. Yang McDonald’s Philippines continues to aspire to make a difference in communities where it operates through its charity of choice, Ronald McDonald House Charities Philippines.

McDonald’s Philippines poised for growth after strong 2022 with record-breaking sales

“McDonald’s Philippines’ strong performance in 2022 wouldn’t have been possible if not for the trust and continuous support of our customers all over the country. As we aim to consistently improve how we serve McDonald’s favorites to every Filipino, we are equally committed to providing feel-good experiences to our people [crew and managers] who make it all happen in our stores, and in communities where we operate for many years to come. It is these customers we serve, the people working in our restaurants and communities that we help that inspire and motivate us to be and do better. As many Filipinos continue to face challenges and recover from the pandemic, we want to be a place where they can experience feel-good moments. We want to be a company that Filipinos today and the future can trust.” ~Kenneth Yang, President and CEO of McDonald’s Philippines

McDonald’s Philippines poised for growth after strong 2022 with record-breaking sales

In 2022, McDonald's Philippines surpassed its sales performance prior to the pandemic in 2019 with record-breaking sales.

The QSR giant, whose Chairman and Owner is Dr. George T. Yang and whose President and CEO is Kenneth Yang, attributes its performance not only to strong consumer mobility and post-pandemic behavior but also to its ongoing commitment to providing value for money, exciting limited-time menu offers, and an improved omnichannel customer experience.

Feeling good, feeling safe

From its first store opening in Morayta, Manila in 1981, McDonald’s Philippines continues to uphold global food safety and quality standards in the preparation and service of its food whether through dine-in, take-out, Drive-Thru, or McDelivery.  

This was further strengthened during the pandemic as part of its M Safe program, introduced in 2020.  

The company doubledowned on food safety and quality efforts through continuous monitoring, and crew and manager training, which contributed to its third party food safety audit results and customer perception scores on safety and trust.

Since the launch of M Safe, the company’s findings on ‘brand trust’ increased by 5.4% which contributed to increased dine-in guest count, lifting market share for McDonald’s in 2022.

McDonald’s Philippines poised for growth after strong 2022 with record-breaking sales

Setting the standard for doing good 

McDonald’s takes pride in its global learning and development programs from Crew Training to Restaurant Leadership courses to its Digital Academy. As one of the biggest employers in the country, McDonald’s Philippines believes that everyone has the opportunity to grow and succeed in the company which starts by first having job security. McDonald’s is the first quick-service restaurant in the country to practice a direct hiring policy, providing regular employment to all its crew members. In 2022, McDonald’s Philippines hired more than 17,000 new employees in support of its new store openings—employing working students regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. 

To date, the company has close to 60,000 employees in over 700 stores across the Philippines— with over 47,000 employees in Luzon, close to 6,000 employees in Visayas, and 5,000 employees in Mindanao. 

McDonald’s Philippines poised for growth after strong 2022 with record-breaking sales

Serving meals with kindness 

McDonald’s also prioritizes its commitment to the communities where it operates. To serve meals to underserved families without access to food, McDonald’s Philippines launched the Kindness Kitchen, a flagship program of its charity of choice, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). 

In December 2022, Kindness Kitchen has served over 800,000 meals, a 33% increase from 600,000 meals served in May. The initiative aims to serve 1 million meals by the end of 2023. 

McDonald’s Philippines poised for growth after strong 2022 with record-breaking sales

McDonald's exemplifies always being one step ahead in upholding its commitment to world-class excellence by continuously improving the quality of its food, providing its employees with opportunities for growth, and making a positive impact on communities.

McDonald’s Philippines resilient during COVID-19 pandemic; primed to begin recovery in 2021

“Our commitment to people has always been embedded in our core values. We understand the significant role we play in ensuring that we support communities in need, especially during the most trying of times. Our priority has always been to constantly evolve and introduce innovations for our customers, and for them to enhance their safe and frictionless experience across all channels. This continued rollout of our offerings is a strategic investment as we continue to surpass difficulties and thrive during this time of initial recovery. As we open new stores during these trying times, we are able to generate much needed job opportunities for more Filipinos and demonstrate our outlook of economic recovery in the near future.” ~Kenneth Yang, McDonald's Philippines President & CEO

McDonald’s opened its ‘green store’ in U.N. Ave. part of the QSR giant’s commitment to reduce its environmental footprint and source sustainable packaging.

McDonald’s Philippines resilient during COVID-19 pandemic; primed to begin recovery in 2021. Leading quick-service restaurant giant Golden Arches Development Corporation (McDonald’s Philippines), majority-owned and operated by its Chairman & Founder Dr. George T. Yang and President & CEO Kenneth Yang, has carefully navigated the 2020 pandemic through its core commitment to its people and relentless pursuit to provide a frictionless customer experience.

Despite the many challenges posed by the pandemic, McDonald’s was able to leverage its business fundamentals with its safe operating culture, strong brand and community involvement, reinforcing its support to its people (employees and customers)一and fortifying its strategic investments prior to 2020 to accelerate business segments like McDelivery and Drive-Thru this year. 

With the rising homebound economy and eCommerce, the brand has leveraged its McDelivery channel as a source of growth.

• A focus on its people

At the onset of the lockdown, McDonald’s was quick to launch the McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen through the Ronald McDonald House Charities, during the enhanced community quarantines by re-purposing the kitchens of its stores that were temporarily closed to prepare the meals of its beneficiaries, especially frontliners who work tirelessly to keep people safe, as well as communities who remain embattled and experience hunger. 

Having malasakit ingrained in the company’s values, the QSR giant has served over 460,000 meals to 229 communities, 26 non-government organizations, 133 government agencies, over 250 hospitals, and 61 quarantine centers nationwide to date, and is committed to continuing to serve more meals in 2021.

The company has also allotted the space of the underutilized party rooms for the use of teachers who had difficulties transitioning to distance learning. The opening of over 220 “McClassrooms” in October all over the country with free access to Wi-Fi and McCafé coffee was well received by the public during Teacher’s Month. 

Pursuant to its commitment to people, McDonald’s also launched its M Safe program to ensure the safety of its employees, offices, and its restaurants in order to serve customers across its different touchpoints safely. It was through the program that the company continued to operate its restaurants safely amidst the quarantine restrictions.

M Safe then became an avenue for the company to demonstrate its commitment to support the government in its bid to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. M Safe was acknowledged by the government and other external stakeholders particularly for its initiatives, including mass testing for its own front-liners (restaurant managers and crew) and the integration of the IATF-endorsed contact tracing system, Stay Safe, across all stores.

McDonald’s further extended its support to Task Force T3, a consortium of private companies that partner with the government for its test, trace, and treat initiatives against COVID-19. McDonald’s actively took part in Task Force T3’s Ingat Angat campaign, the country’s biggest consumer confidence campaign to restart the economy safely.

The QSR giant also announced that it will be providing free COVID-19 vaccines for its employees to help the government accelerate the national vaccination program.

McDonald’s Drive-Thru segment has strengthened as it launched its ‘Ride-Thru’ and ‘Park-Order-Pay’ initiatives to champion customer inclusivity amid the lockdown restrictions.

• Customer experience through product innovations

Responding to the impact of COVID-19 on the business, McDonald’s continued its focus on providing relevant innovations and product offerings that would allow a safe and more convenient experience for its customers.

With the rising homebound economy and the exponential growth of eCommerce, the company leveraged its McDelivery channel as a source of growth or leveraged McDelivery, cashless, and other technology investments.

McDonald’s has taken this opportunity to scale its food delivery aggregator partnerships with GrabFood and foodpanda, which allowed customers more options to enjoy their favorites conveniently. This has widened the reach and exponentially increased the growth in delivery.

The company also strengthened its Drive-Thru segment and championed customer inclusivity through initiatives like Ride-Thru and Park-Order-Pay, which encourages all sorts of vehicles to experience McDonald’s in their vehicles, on the go. 

These innovations supported by increasing cashless payment solutions in these segments, allowed McDonald’s Delivery and Drive-Thru services to grow significantly accounting for 60% of its total sales. The company also noted a 28.6% growth in cashless transactions in 2020.

Due to the limitation on public gatherings, events and celebrations were forced to be done at home. The company launched Party-To-Go and Send To Many options, enabling safe celebrations at home. McDonald’s also introduced a wide array of new products to delight its customers such as the McDo Spicy Burger, Spicy McNuggets, shakes, sundae blends, and the McSpaghetti platter.

• Primed to recover in 2021

With the innovations launched in 2020, the leading QSR giant is optimistic to recover this year from the impact of COVID-19. Amid the continuous difficulties posed by the pandemic, McDonald’s was able to end 2020 with a 655-store base and the opening of 16 new stores, including the largest store in the Philippines, in Capital Town, Pampanga. 

With growth between the first and second half of 2020, which carried over to Q1 of 2021, the company is bullish on gearing for recovery this year. Despite the recent reinstatement of the Enhanced Community Quarantine last March, which suspended its dine-in operations among other restrictions, McDonald’s is set to open at least 30 new stores this year. 

McDonald’s Philippines master franchise holder, Dr. George T. Yang, opened the first McDonald’s store in Morayta, Manila in 1981. Since then, McDonald’s in the Philippines has been a strong and relevant player in the country’s quick-service restaurant industry, having grown a store network of over 650 across the country, and will continue to grow in the years to come. McDonald’s Philippines continues to elevate its community relevance thru Ronald McDonald House Charities and customer experience through its NXTGEN stores. 

Represented, Leading, Involved: McDonald’s Celebrates its #MPowered Women

“We are proud to exemplify the talents and strengths of Filipino women at McDonald’s especially during these challenging times. We survived 2020 due to the exemplary leadership that the women of McDonald’s have shown-- the roles they played in initiatives that have propelled our business and brought us closer to different communities. As we celebrate our female employees this Women’s Month, I would like to enjoin leaders and see the importance of championing a culture and workplace that enables everyone, whatever gender it may be, to grow and have equal opportunity. McDonald’s Philippines will remain steadfast in our commitment to gender equality, diversity and workplace inclusion. We are proud to say that from the crew room to the board room, it’s the women who take charge.” ~Kenneth Yang, McDonald’s Philippines President and CEO

Fastfood giant’s latest campaign puts the spotlight on its women who make a difference. World-famous menu items, meals, and heartfelt service are signatures of the McDonald’s Philippines experience. And while the public continues to enjoy the company’s industry-leading standards on food and customer-centricity, the women of McDonald’s are taking on more leadership roles and increased involvement behind the counters, which has made all this come to life. These women are at the forefront of #MPowered, McDonald’s newest campaign this National Women’s Month. The initiative lauds McDonald’s women leaders and team members who have shown strength, confidence, and courage amid a trying year, steering the company throughout the pandemic. The campaign is also headlined by McDonald’s representation numbers, which show its lead from the current global benchmarks for a gender-equal workforce. At McDonald’s, women account for 55% of the total employee population. Out of this number, 56% manage the company’s over 650 stores. In the boardroom, women from the executive committee take up 50% of the company’s top leadership posts, while 73% of senior management and 54% of its franchise owners are women. At the forefront is a female managing director, and women thriving in roles that are traditionally handled by men like real estate, construction, legal, IT, and franchising.

• Making waves in the company, society

Among the women in the #MPowered campaign are leaders who have driven landmark projects for McDonald’s and in partnership with other stakeholders amid the pandemic. Managing director Margot Torres co-led Ingat Angat, the country’s biggest consumer confidence campaign for Task Force T3, a consortium of private companies that support and partner with the government for its test, trace, and treat initiatives against COVID-19. She continues her work on another national project, this time focusing on alleviating hunger and malnutrition. She is the private sector lead for Pilipinas Kontra Gutom, a multi-sectoral initiative in partnership with the government’s Task Force Zero Hunger--all while continuously overseeing the company’s day-to-day operations.

Following the strict lockdowns last year, McDonald’s was able to continue its operations, drive-thru, McDelivery, and dine-in at a limited capacity, through its M Safe Program, led by corporate communications manager Puch Agodon. Through efforts of internal communications to align and rally its people on M Safe, the program captures how the company elevated its commitment to quality, service, and cleanliness for a safe and worry-free dining experience for its employees and customers. Rounding the list of notable female leaders amid COVID-19 is Ronald McDonald House Charities executive director Marie Angeles, who was at the helm of McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen. Initially intending to feed 50,000 frontliners and individuals from vulnerable sectors, the project progressed to feeding over 400,000 through the concerted effort of RMHC and its corporate partners including Metrobank, Coca-Cola, HAVI, and Angkas. The McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen remains committed to serving more meals for more Filipinos this 2021. 

“It is not enough to look at just the projects that gain media exposure because the more compelling work of women at McDonald’s happens every day, in the kitchens of all our restaurants in the Philippines. McDonald’s Philippines takes pride in having women as leaders, and as a woman myself, each day I am inspired by the skill and tenacity of our restaurant managers and crew, whom I believe, through their unique strengths, are pivotal for the success that has brought McDonald’s to where it is today and in the future.” ~Margot Torres, Managing Director, co-led Ingat Angat, the country’s biggest consumer confidence campaign for Task Force T3

According to its latest figures, McDonald’s has over 25,000 women, wherein 56% belong to restaurant and safety management positions in company-owned stores, and each one in charge of leading her co-employees and customers through the M Safe Program. Meanwhile, among 114 independent franchisees, 54% are also women. 

McDonald’s Philippines master franchise holder, Dr. George T. Yang, opened the first McDonald’s store in Morayta, Manila in 1981. Since then, McDonald’s in the Philippines has been a strong and relevant player in the country’s quick-service restaurant industry, having grown a store network of 656 across the country. McDonald’s Philippines continues to elevate its community relevance thru Ronald McDonald House Charities and McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen in response to covid-19 crisis.

McDonald’s strengthens safety protocols in stores, to activate StaySafe App for contact tracing

“In these challenging times, McDonald’s Philippines supports government initiatives that allow us to continue serving our customers in our restaurants and in other channels like delivery and drive-thru, safely. For us, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our people and our customers.” ~Kenneth Yang, McDonald’s Philippines President, and CEO

McDonald’s Philippines President and CEO, Kenneth Yang, supports the IATF-EID’s efforts on contact tracing as McDonald’s stores around the country will be employing the StaySafe app

Reinforcing its commitment towards safety, McDonald’s Philippines will be adopting a more innovative means for contact tracing through the use of the StaySafe.PH app in its stores. This is in support of the platform launched and spearheaded by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19.

StaySafe.PH aims to contain the spread of COVID-19 by encouraging users to actively report their health conditions and symptoms as well as that of their family members. McDonald’s stores will be utilizing the locally-developed app as a safer, more convenient, and comprehensive contract tracing tool not just for customers but for its employees, too.

Since the announcement of the enhanced community quarantine, McDonald’s Philippines has been reinforcing its commitment towards the safety of people. Under its M Safe program, the company believes that by keeping its employees safe, they keep their customers safe, too. Each store has a dedicated safety manager to ensure all protocols are followed by employees such as wearing of masks and/or face shields, use of gloves, daily submission of health check forms, temperature checks before and after every shift, and increased handwashing frequency to every 30 minutes, among others. The safety managers also ensure that customers are properly guided on the protocols in the store. McDonald’s also started to offer new convenient ordering modes for customers such as Facebook Messenger to be able to enjoy their favorite meals.

McDonald’s Philippines master franchise holder, Dr. George T. Yang, opened the first McDonald’s store in Morayta, Manila in 1981. Since then, McDonald’s in the Philippines has been a strong and relevant player in the country’s quick-service restaurant industry, having grown a store network of over 600 across the country. McDonald’s Philippines continues to elevate its community relevance thru Ronald McDonald House Charities and McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen in response to the COVID-19 crisis.