Our Business

McCafe celebrates 30th birthday

22 May 2023

22 May 2023, Australia: McDonald’s is celebrating 30 years since the world’s first McCafé opened in Melbourne in 1993, with the launch of a new Birthday Cake flavoured Latte and coffee giveaways for Aussie customers.

The celebrations kickstart this Wednesday, 24 May, with the introduction of the limited-time only Birthday Cake flavoured Latte. Served hot or cold, the latte features McCafé’s signature smooth and rich blend combined with delicious cake flavours.

The party doesn’t stop there - from 24 May to 6 June, customers in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Townsville will score free coffee with the McCafé coffee van going on tour along the eastern seaboard.

Over the past 30 years, McCafé has become an Aussie success story and global phenomenon, with 1,026 McCafé’s across Australia and more than 4,000 in 60 countries across the world.

Today, it serves up more than 230 million cups of barista-made coffee and hot drinks in a year – over 630,000 a day, with approximately three billion cups served over the past 30 years.

Lancy Huynh, Group Brand Manager for McDonald’s Australia said: “One of the innovations we’re most proud of at McDonald’s Australia is McCafé, a homegrown idea that has turned into a global success.

“McCafé changed McDonald’s approach to coffee across the world – inventing a new way of serving our customers and defining what it means to offer great-quality, barista-made coffee in our restaurants.

“With over 1,000 locations in Australia, McCafé is now one of the largest coffee retailers in the country, representing an impressive one in every four coffees sold in Australia.

“It’s a brand that was created by coffee lovers for coffee lovers, so we are extremely proud to celebrate this milestone with the experts that helped shape it – our customers right here in Australia.”

Over the years, McCafé’s reputation for great-quality blends and barista-made coffee has seen it continue to evolve and keep up with customers’ changing coffee preferences and habits. From launching new blends and menu items, upgrading coffee machines, offering McCafé in drive-thru and opening McDonald’s Barista Academy, McCafé has consistently pushed the boundaries to deliver great-quality coffee.

Its in-house baristas have been specially trained to deliver great-quality, barista-made coffee with every cup, using the newest technology. For those wanting to advance their skills, McDonald’s launched the McCafé Barista Academy in 2017 – a place for baristas to complete further training with McCafé’s world- class barista trainers.

The McCafé blend is roasted in Melbourne and sourced from 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in Brazil, Honduras, Kenya and Ethiopia.

The Birthday Cake flavoured Latte is available from Wednesday, 24 May, across restaurants and via McDelivery, for a limited time only.

The McCafé coffee van birthday tour will kick off on Guilfoyle Lawn in Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens on Wednesday 24 May, serving free coffee to members of the public from 6:00am – 2:00pm.

McCafé 30th birthday tour dates and locations

State

Location

Date and time

VIC

Guilfoyle Lawn, Melbourne Botanic Gardens,

Melbourne

24 May, 6:00AM – 2:00PM

NSW

Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, Sydney

30 May, 5:30AM – 2:00PM

QLD

Brisbane Marathon, City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane

4 June, 5:00AM – 1:00PM

QLD

Strand Park, Townsville

6 June, 5:30AM – 2:00PM

ENDS
Media Enquiries

Chloe Loukes | chloe.loukes@thisismango.com.au | M +61 417 245 635

Marina Kovacevic | marina.kovacevic@thisismango.com.au | M +61 450 500 257

About McCafé

McCafé is one of the largest coffee retailers in the country: one in every four coffees sold every day in Australia is from a McCafé. It’s one of our biggest local and global success stories, having first launched in Melbourne in 1993. In 2003 there were 100 McCafés around Australia. Now, there are more than 4,000 in 60 countries across the world and McCafé is worth billions to the global business. In 2021, McDonald’s debuted an exclusive new McCafé blend, roasted in Melbourne. The McCafé blend is sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms across Brazil, Honduras, Kenya and Ethiopia.

About McDonald’s Australia

Australia’s first McDonald’s restaurant opened in Yagoona, Sydney, in 1971. Today there are over 1,025 McDonald’s restaurants across Australia, nearly 85 percent of which are franchised and run by local businessmen and women. The organisation employs more than 110,000 people in restaurants and corporate offices Australia-wide and is the largest employer of youth in the country. McDonald’s creates more than 3,000 new jobs each year and spends over $40 million per annum on training and people development.

For more information visit www.mcdonalds.com.au or www.facebook.com/McDonaldsAU. McDonald’s is also on Twitter – check us out at Twitter.com/maccas.