Coffee with a different name sells better? It is true?

by chee Leng (on coffee makers)
(Singapore)

Can someone tell me what is the difference between a cup of coffee from MacDonald versus their Mc Cafe daily coffee?

Other than the difference of $2, can you actually tell the difference? I am sure MacDonald would never say that the coffee that they have been serving all along is low quality, so why are we paying an additional $2?

Because of the word "Gourmet".

And mind you, this seemingly simple strategy has added Millions of dollars to MacDonald top and bottomline. In fact, beverages were their number one earners, not burgers.

Read about Macdonald's profit rising

And this would be the Strategy that all QSR (Quick Service Restaurants) be taking in the coming months ahead.

Burger King partner with Seattle's best for coffee. So, now you get the normal coffee, and you get Seattle's best.

KFC is testing Lavazza coffee in its UK outlets. In case, you are wondering why UK, that is because MacDonald just became the biggest coffee seller there in 2011.

And now even local companies are following suit. Although, I leave it to you to evaluate if they have what is termed gourmet coffee.

Burger Ranch, an Israeli Fast food chain with more than 100 outlets plans to open 30 Ranch cafe within the first half of this year.

They have chosen Nestle to be its partner in this venture. While, it is not really an gourmet coffee supplier, you can say that Nestle has the knowledge and expertise at both coffee and running a cafe (they opened a few cafes in Europe in 2011).

Of course, this move is purely commercial. Coffee is such a high margin product, that no doubt it would better the per sq feet turnover, and boost the bottom and top line of Burger Ranch.

Isn't it marvelous? All they need to do, is to add a Gourmet in front of the coffee and they get to earn more money?

Now, my question is this: Why are people still paying for it?

Would love to hear your comments about it.