Interesting Articles...

[Yehuda57]

What is amazing is the consistent taste across the country. A 1/4 ponder tastes the same in Chicago as it does in LA.

Yup, and if you come to JNB, it should be pretty close there too. You can't do that by sacrificing quality

[CountValentine]

Yup, and if you come to JNB, it should be pretty close there too. You can't do that by sacrificing quality

In Poland it was spot on, but the fries tasted different.

[EliJelly]

Yup, and if you come to JNB, it should be pretty close there too. You can't do that by sacrificing quality

But that would be a sign of overly commercial without the slightest taste of heimish food. I.E. everything is premade and just following the exact steps across the globe.

[drosenberg88429]

I would strongly doubt this. Having spoken to people who have done work with McDonalds in various capacities, their attention to detail and strict enforcement of policies  and standards is remarkable. I would guess the quality of their meat is far better than any kosher (or non-kosher non-chain) fast food. They are not cheap because of a lack of quality, they are cheap because of scale and efficiency.

What is amazing is the consistent taste across the country. A 1/4 ponder tastes the same in Chicago as it does in LA.

That probably has more to do with the artificial flavoring agents to maintain the taste consistency than the quality of the meat. If anything, the more natural add unadulterated the product is, the more of a natural disparity there should be. Really comes down to the question brought up before by CV as to how quality should be defined.

How is higher quality determined? Is 90% ground beef higher quality than 80% ground beef? Which hamburger would taste better?

There are industry standards for grading beef.
https://meat.tamu.edu/beefgrading/

Which would taste better (and whether higher beef content is necessarily higher quality) is a much more subjective question. It's like comparing sourdough bread to ramen noodles - the more artificial options have a pretty uniform taste, which a person can get used to and enjoy more.
The lower end fast food chains are known for using pretty low quality beef and odd bits for their ground meat products, that they would never be able to use for unground products without the degree of artificial additives that the ground products have. However, that doesn't mean they taste bad. It's just different.

[ExGingi]

What is amazing is the consistent taste across the country. A 1/4 ponder tastes the same in Chicago as it does in LA.

Aren't all franchises like that?

[CountValentine]

Aren't all franchises like that?

Big difference in BK's whoppers.

[ExGingi]

Big difference in BK's whoppers.

I'm very surprised to learn that. How about other large chains/franchises.

[drosenberg88429]

Big difference in BK's whoppers.

Very interesting. I would've thought like ExGingi, that large fast food chains would want a distinctive consistent taste associated with their trademark products. I wonder if there's a difference with how the franchises operate and what they are provided by the corporation vs sourcing personally.

[Yehuda57]

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/protest-porn

[ExGingi]

In Poland it was spot on, but the fries tasted different.

Was it due to the potatoes or the oil (or other fat) it was cooked in?

[CountValentine]

Was it due to the potatoes or the oil (or other fat) it was cooked in?

Going to guess the oil.

I'm very surprised to learn that. How about other large chains/franchises.

And it is stupid stuff like too much or not enough mayo.
Arby's is spot on but nothing to mess up there.
Subway is different, even at the same store at different times.

[ExGingi]

Going to guess the oil.

It is my understanding that at least in the US McDonald's uses some form of animal derivatives. It is possible that it is not used in certain locales.

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/faq/why-are-your-ingredients-for-mcdonald-s-fries-difference-in-the-u-s--from-those-in-the-u-k.html

And

https://www.rd.com/article/mcdonalds-fries-ingredients/

[ExGingi]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-20/amazon-delivery-drivers-of-color-get-worse-customer-reviews-than-white-ones

https://archive.ph/ZhSIl

@CountValentine do you believe this is real?

I can't imagine anything of the sort. I have excellent relationships (and would give positive reviews) with black delivery drivers. I am color blind, it's all about the quality.

I find Amazon delivery to be amongst the worst, FedEx maybe a drop above, and USPS and UPS much better - both drivers are black. I have no idea regarding FedEx or Amazon delivery drivers, I rarely see them delivering anything to me, I just find the packages outside. I think the common denominator for the bad deliveries is that they are non-employees.

[aygart]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-20/amazon-delivery-drivers-of-color-get-worse-customer-reviews-than-white-ones

https://archive.ph/ZhSIl

@CountValentine do you believe this is real?

I can't imagine anything of the sort. I have excellent relationships (and would give positive reviews) with black delivery drivers. I am color blind, it's all about the quality.

I find Amazon delivery to be amongst the worst, FedEx maybe a drop above, and USPS and UPS much better - both drivers are black. I have no idea regarding FedEx or Amazon delivery drivers, I rarely see them delivering anything to me, I just find the packages outside. I think the common denominator for the bad deliveries is that they are non-employees.

I can imagine someone who is a racist may do that. What if the service skews worse from a demographic?

[Yo ssi]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-20/amazon-delivery-drivers-of-color-get-worse-customer-reviews-than-white-ones

https://archive.ph/ZhSIl

@CountValentine do you believe this is real?

I can't imagine anything of the sort. I have excellent relationships (and would give positive reviews) with black delivery drivers. I am color blind, it's all about the quality.

I find Amazon delivery to be amongst the worst, FedEx maybe a drop above, and USPS and UPS much better - both drivers are black. I have no idea regarding FedEx or Amazon delivery drivers, I rarely see them delivering anything to me, I just find the packages outside. I think the common denominator for the bad deliveries is that they are non-employees.

Depends on the individual I've seen a FedEx agent who was pretty bad and I'd say IME amazon is generally better than USPS

[CountValentine]

@CountValentine do you believe this is real?

Of course it is real. Was that a serious question?

[ExGingi]

Of course it is real. Was that a serious question?

I guess I just can't wrap my head around such bias. As I said, I will take good service without ever caring what skin color or religion the person delivering it is. I can't fathom why anyone might prefer inferior service just because of such things.

Some of the videos I share the most with people are talks by Daryl Davis. While they are all very similar, I sometimes watch different ones, and recently watched one he gave 2 years ago (with a Q&A session) at Google's NY offices. The only thing I find that I am consistently in disagreement with him is his choice of attire.

[ExGingi]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-20/jpmorgan-owned-the-lme-nickel-that-was-actually-bags-of-stones

https://archive.md/rMh2a

I wonder if this will have spillover and be found to be widespread.

[AsherO]

I can't fathom why anyone might prefer inferior service just because of such things.

A racist might have a lower tolerance for average/poor service from someone they’re prejudiced against. They might also give outright bad ratings to good/satisfactory service to someone they’re prejudiced against.

[AsherO]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-20/jpmorgan-owned-the-lme-nickel-that-was-actually-bags-of-stones

https://archive.md/rMh2a

I wonder if this will have spillover and be found to be widespread.

It could happen with any commodity. I would think if I bought a contract on a commodity and it turned out to be bunk, the entity that sold me the contract would be on the hook.