"FRENCH fries will be on our menu forever," Jeffrey Schwartz, McDonald's new China chief executive officer, said when he made his media debut in Beijing last month.

Schwartz, who began his career as a crew staff at a McDonald's restaurant in Minneapolis in 1968, was appointed in July to head Big Mac's operation in China, where performance was not only weak in the firm's overall global market portfolio, but also lagged rivals.

The company's weakness in China and Japan has affected its strength in the United States and Australia, the company said in an earnings report earlier this year.

McDonald,the world's biggest restaurant chain, now has 680 hamburger chain stores on the mainland while Yum! Brands Inc operates 1,500 KFC fried chicken outlets and 261 Pizza Hut outlets.

"French fries is who we are and McDonald's has the world's best fries," said Schwartz, 52, who claims he still enjoys making fries.

Schwartz's insistence poses a contrast to KFC's repositioning campaign in China this year, in which KFC is striving to change the image of Colonel Sanders. It hopes Chinese people will identify with the foreign fast food maker.

KFC has replaced fries and cola on its set menu with salads and fruit juice in October, a move spurred by increasingly health-conscious Chinese customers.

Chinese customers, who accepted fast-food chains such as KFC and McDonalds when they entered China in the late 1980s, have been exposed to more media coverage of food safety issues involving Western fast food in recent years.

To fend off critics that blame fast food companies for contributing to a rising incidence of obesity and other health problems, McDonald's took a different approach.

It said it will list the amount of calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, and sodium on all product packages in China starting next year.

Five months into his term, Schwartz is also stepping up efforts to start the company's new drive-through outlet business. He's also revamping management.

The company will open its first drive-through on the mainland this month in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. KFC has already opened two drive-throughs in Shanghai.

McDonalds also divided its regional markets into four to flatten its management structure.

But it still remains cautious about franchising although 70 percent of its outlets overseas are franchises.

"We will not rush into franchising as I have other business issues to address first," said Schwartz, whose previous role in the company was senior vice president for franchising.

McDonald's and KFC corporately own and operate most of their stores in China. Some Chinese franchisees have signed on as partners, only to steal trade secrets or recipes and then open a competing store under a different name.

China passed additional laws earlier this year that will provide better protection to companies that operate franchises. Burger King, Dairy Queen and some other restaurant chains soon announced expansion plans via franchising.


Jeffrey Schwartz
Chief Executive Officer, McDonald's China

Jeffrey Schwartz is a 37-year McDonald's veteran. He began his career as a crew staff in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1968 and began to climb the corporate ladder.
He was appointed regional manager of the Phoenix region in 1989 and the Los Angeles region in 1996. From 2001-2004 he was the General Manager of the Southern California region.
Schwartz took the role of Senior Vice President, McOpCo, Operations and Franchising, West Division in 2004.
During his career at McDonald's, Schwartz has accumulated vast experience in operations as well as other key business areas such as human resources and marketing.