06-06-2025
Cork McDonald's operator aiming for €32m in revenues this year
A Cork based McDonald's franchisee said on Friday drive-thru revenues at one of his restaurants now accounted for 64% of annual revenues.
Jim Ronayne oversees the operation of six McDonald's in Cork and Tipperary and said he was aiming to generate revenues of €32m from the restaurants this year.
He said the six outlets last year made revenues of €30m.
Mr Ronayne operates McDonald's at Douglas, and Mallow along with others at Commons Road, Blackpool, and Musgrave Park in Cork City, and one outlet in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
All of McDonald's 95 outlets across Ireland today are operated by 19 local franchisees.
Mr Ronayne said drive-thru revenues across his six restaurants accounted for 50% of revenues, with drive-thru revenues reaching 64% at his Commons Road outlet.
He said people enjoy the convenience of being in their cars and, 'of course, you have more cars on the road now'.
Mr Ronayne confirmed he was looking to expand in the Cork area and employ 500 people by year end.
The business currently employed 475, comprising 20 different nationalities, and Mr Ronayne said: 'I have a very good team around me and we are ambitious for growth."
He said McDonald's Ireland currently had a planning application before Cork County Council for a new outlet in Carrigaline.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of Mr Ronayne's McDonald's Commons Road outlet.
The outlet opened in 2000 with a crew of just 40, and it now employs more than 85 staff across full-time and part-time roles.
He opened his first McDonald's in Mallow in 1998, following a career running three food businesses of his own.
Mr Ronayne said 10% of revenues are online from the McDelivery service. The Big Mac and Quarter Pounder remain some of the best-selling items on the menu, while the sales of meals with chicken have surged in recent years.
Mr Ronayne revealed McDonald's franchises in Ireland are self-insured and now operate their own common fund for insurance, which they set up in 2018, as 'the costs had completely gotten out of hand'.
Mr Ronayne said his business was 'in good health', but margins are under pressure with the rising costs of the likes of beef and potatoes.
He said the business had passed on some of the costs to the customer, with price rises of 8%-9% in the last year or so.
He said 'it is not a case that if the price of beef rises by 30% that we will increase the price by 30%'.
He said the rise in costs "is a serious challenge to our business'.
