McDonald’s misses the sales target, puts blame on Gaza War

McDonald’s is reported to have missed its first quarterly sales target in nearly four years.

The fast food giant has cited Israel’s war in Gaza as a factor in missing the sales target in its international business division.

McDonald’s is among several Western brands that have been hit with boycotts due to their perceived support for Israel.

On Monday, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said that the war had had a “disheartening” effect on sales in Middle Eastern countries and other Muslim-majority nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

“So long as this conflict, this war, is going on … we’re not expecting to see any significant improvement in this,” Kempczinski said in a conference call.

“It’s a human tragedy, what’s going on, and I think that does weigh on brands like ours,” he added.

As reported, McDonald’s sales growth for its chain’s division for the Middle East, China and India during October-December reached 0.7 per cent – far below market expectations of 5.5 per cent.

The food chain’s sales are dented after customers in Muslim countries called for a boycott of McDonald’s in response to its Israeli franchisee donating thousands of free meals to the Israeli military.

Following the announcement by McDonald’s Israel, franchisees in Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Turkey distanced themselves from the donations and collectively pledged millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians in Gaza.