“Not only have we lived history here in South Africa for the past 18 years, we will continue to create it. Like drive thru, hand held breakfast, 24/7 and McCafe™. McDonald’s will continue to improve, evolve and pioneer” says McDonald’s South Africa’s managing director, Greg Solomon. The new restaurants are built using light gauge steel and energy efficient cladding and insulation systems which mean the restaurants cool down and warm up faster.

McDonald’s opened its first steel frame restaurant in Cape Town on Saturday, 29 June, making it the first light steel frame informal eating out restaurant of this kind in South Africa. The opening of the new restaurant has created 75 new permanent jobs in the Western Cape. The double story restaurant that seats 142 customers uses only LED lighting, which uses less energy, and has used environmentally friendly PVC piping.

Solomon says, “It is our responsibility to lead in this way as a big corporate, and we understand the importance of sustainable business practices to minimise our impact on the environment. We are very excited to roll out these new restaurants.”

McDonald’s have invested in many sustainability measures in its restaurants over the past two years which have included building design, making sure that natural light and heat from the sun complement a minimum air-conditioning design which form part of a programme Solomon refers to as 'Project Green and Growing'. This visionary programme targets a 20% saving in water consumption, a 20% saving on electricity consumption, 20% saving on costs and 20% saving on construction time as the brand continues on its strong growth path.