McDonald's is trying to shed its junk food tag by underscoring the nutritional benefits of its fare.
It is also planning to launch a clutch of products from its international portfolio for which it has a tie-up with food and beverage companies Cadbury Schweppes and Nestle.
Amit Jatia, managing director of Hardcastle Restaurants, the western region arm of McDonald's India, said: "We want to create awareness among consumers about the nutritional values of our products. This is also part of McDonald's global corporate social responsibility programme."
Explaining this, Jatia said, "For instance, our soft serve has less than 3 per cent fat content. But, consumers are hardly aware of this fact. We now want to educate and highlight these facts about our products."
Globally, McDonald's has launched a low-fat health menu, which is sizzling sales. While there are no plans to introduce the diet menu to Indians as of yet, it is paving the way with the new health awareness campaign by coming out with leaflets which highlights the nutritional values of its food products at its restaurants.
Jatia claims that McDonald's in India has witnessed a compounded annual growth rate of 40 per cent. It set up shop in October 1996.
In south-east Asia, McDonald's has a tie-up with Nestle for Milo drinking chocolate. In India, it had tied up with Cadbury India to provide the chocolate for its McSwirl ice cream. It also sells Coca-Cola India's Georgia tea and coffee.
It is also making a foray into the south with the first outlet in Bangalore. McDonald's currently has 54 outlets in the country.
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