Their moat is only for people who feel like eating a McDonald’s. That’s what the article is saying - when analysed they don’t actually have much of a moat because there are so many other options and competitors including cooking at home. Yet they still survive and look as if they have a moat. A moat for McDonald’s would be if their customers ate there every day or even every meal, and few people actually do that.

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darkfloo 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

McDonald has a giant moat: Consistency

I can pop into any McDonald across the world and be 99.9% sure that the meal will be clean and taste like what I except McDonald to taste.

I don’t love fast food but I’ve been to a lot of them, across a wide enough range of country , to say that every other fast food chain struggles hard with that.

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gizajob an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Again that’s the point - the moat exists if you feel like a McDonald’s, because you know what you’re getting and they are pretty good at delivering on that. But if you’re hungry now and feel like a burger you’re probably not likely to walk 30 minutes across a city to go to a McDonald’s if you’re already standing outside a burger or pizza place that looks alright.

	▲	Fnoord 22 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		You'd be surprised. Kids want McD's, not some random burger restaurant. They want the real thing. This value proposition exists with any restaurant with franchises though. It isn't specific to McD's. According to my wife (who fancies burgers), Burger King is way better anyway. I wouldn't know. For me, it is a scam. Since what they sell as cheddar isn't cheddar (it has nothing to do with that) but processed cheese.

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Fnoord 25 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

> except McDonald to taste.

'[…] expect […]'

I'm Dutch and lived near the German border. The first time eating at a German McD's was about 25 years ago, and it was an experience. Because they changed the mayonnaise to German customs. In Germany, mayonnaise is sour, not sweet and the specific McD's version (which normally is yellow, and contains, I don't know, pickles?) was rather different.

As such, your 99,9% is overrated since there's even lots of local flavours and customs, but yes it is generally good enough, and if you consider intra culture, you're flat out right.

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ilovecake1984 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Corals has no moat. The foo business is notoriously competitive with thin margins.

If that’s what Ai looks like they are in trouble.