Did somebody say Chinese McDonald's?

Did you know that KFC's biggest market is China? With over 1.3 billion people, its not difficult to see that being able to tap into even a small section of the Chinses fast food industry could lead to big pay-offs. But what are the implications of taking sometimes iconic business models and products, and adapting them to a foreign culture? I saw this story on Sunday's NBC Nightly News and found correspondent Mark Mullen's blog entry on the topic to be very interesting. You can check it out here.

Have you had your (coffee) break today?

There are a heck of a lot of coffee drinkers out there, as evidenced by the amount of Starbucks that inhabit densely populated areas. While I am not a coffee drinker myself (I prefer hot chocolate), I was very amused to hear this report that states after recent comparison taste-testing, McDonald's is the best purveyor of coffee around, beating out both the nearly synonomous Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. While my lack of appreciation for coffee means I cannot confirm or deny the "trained taste-testers" findings, I trust the fellows from Consumer Reports who decided that the cheapest option in the 'fast food' coffee market is also the best tasting. Keep this in mind next time you assume that plunking down 7 bucks for the name-brand grab-and-go java is really your best bet.