Our Business
Macca's celebrates its 50th birthday in Australia
16 June 2021
Macca’s celebrates 50 years of Aussie milestones, memories and feel-good moments
[Australia, Wednesday 16 June 2021] - McDonald’s Australia is kicking off three months of celebrations this week, as it marks 50 years of iconic moments for the golden arches in Australia.
Using its 50th anniversary to thank Aussie customers, Macca’s will be throwing its biggest celebration yet, launching a new range of never-before-seen promotions, menu items and unique collaborations from June until the end of August.
Opening the doors to its first Australian restaurant in 1971, Macca’s now boasts 1,009 restaurants nationwide, employing more than 107,000 people and serving two million Aussies every day.
Over the past 50 years, Macca’s has sold over 1.1 billion Big Macs to Aussie customers.
Andrew Gregory, Chief Executive Officer, McDonald’s Australia, said: “We are extremely proud to be celebrating 50 years of providing great tasting food and supporting our customers, people and communities in Australia.
“We are firm believers in the quality and taste of Australian home grown produce and have always been and remain committed to our local suppliers and supporting more than 15,000 Aussie farmers annually.
“Many of our long-standing partnerships with Aussie suppliers and farmers have spanned multiple decades. Working together, we continue to find new ways to constantly improve the Macca’s experience for our customers.”
Today, Macca’s is the largest employer of young people in the country, having created job opportunities for more than 1.5 million Australians throughout the past 50 years.
“We’re proud of our history and the positive difference our 245 franchisees continue to make by providing the best first job in Australia for young people,” said Andrew Gregory.
“Our franchisees play a critical role in making Macca’s one of the most trusted brands in Australia and we’re looking forward to celebrating our 50th birthday with our people and customers.”
To kick off the celebrations, Macca’s will be reducing the price of the Big Mac to 50 cents across all restaurants nationally on Friday, 18 June, when you order on the MyMacca’s app.
Please see below for some of the key highlights from the past 50 years:
Highlight |
Detail |
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50 years of Cheeseburgers |
McDonald’s Australia has sold 1.9 billion Cheeseburgers over the past 50 years. |
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Supporting local farmers |
McDonald’s has injected over $9 billion into the Australian agriculture industry over the past 50 years, with 100% of beef, chicken, potatoes, wheat flour, lettuce and tomatoes locally sourced. |
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Supporting Australia’s economy |
Every new McDonald’s restaurant creates approximately 120 local employment opportunities. In the last three years, McDonald’s has invested $500 million in new restaurants and reinvestments across Australia. |
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Training and development |
Since McDonald’s became a Registered Training Organisation (RTO)i in 1995, over 47,000 employees have completed national recognised training courses in retail and food safety. |
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Long term partnership with RMHC |
Each year, McDonald’s restaurants host McHappy Day, the largest annual fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). To date, McHappy Day has raised more than $56 million for RMHC. |
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Customer favourites |
To date, McDonald’s has sold over 1.9 billion Cheesburgers and 1.1 billion Big Macs in Australia. |
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McCafe is Australian born |
In 1993, the world’s first McCafé opened in Melbourne, Victoria. There are now 906 McCafé restaurants across Australia. |
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Digital focus |
Since the launch of McDelivery, McDonald’s has made over 54 million deliveries across Australia. |
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Iconic birthday parties |
To date, McDonald’s has hosted over 700,000 birthday parties in Australia. |
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Sustainability flagship |
In 2020, McDonald’s opened Restaurant 1000, its first-ever sustainability flagship in Australia. Following this, McDonald’s introduced fibre-based straws and cutlery in restaurants nationwide, removing at least 868 metric tonnes of plastic from restaurants every year. |
From 18 June, McDonald’s will announce 50th birthday initiatives weekly.
For more information visit: www.mcdonalds.com.au or www.facebook.com/McDonaldsAU.
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For more information, please contact Mango Communications:
Laura Durand | Laura.Durand@thisismango.com.au | 0451 969 108
Leah Eastment | Leah.Eastment@Thisismango.com.au | 0448 728 747
About McDonald’s Australia:
Australia’s first McDonald’s restaurant opened in Yagoona, Sydney, in 1971. Today there are over 1,000 McDonald’s restaurants across Australia, nearly 85 percent of which are franchised and run by local businessmen and women. The organisation employs more than 105,000 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.
