Quarter Pounder

History

The Quarter Pounder was created by Al Bernardin, a franchise owner and former McDonald's Vice President of product development, in Fremont, California, in 1971. Bernardin had moved to Fremont in 1970 after purchasing two company-owned McDonald's restaurants.

Bernardin began experimenting with new menu items for his McDonald's franchises. According to a 1991 interview, Bernardin noted that he "felt there was a void in our menu vis-à-vis the adult who wanted a higher ratio of meat to bun." In 1971, Bernardin introduced the first Quarter Pounders at his McDonald's in Fremont using the slogan, "Today Fremont, tomorrow the world." His Quarter Pounder became a success and was added to the national American menu in 1972.

In November 2008, McDonald's Japan (which did not ordinarily offer the Quarter Pounder) converted two Tokyo restaurants into "Quarter Pounder" branded restaurants which only sold Quarter Pounder meals. These promotional branches closed on November 27, 2008 coinciding with the re-introduction of the Quarter Pounder at regular McDonald's branches throughout the Kantō (Tokyo) region from November 28. The Quarter Pounder was launched at one McDonald's restaurant in the Kansai (Osaka) region on December 23, 2008. It was later reported that 15,000 customers had visited the restaurant on the first day, generating a record 10.02 million yen in sales for a single restaurant in one day. However, it was also revealed that McDonald's had hired 1,000 "extras" to queue up on the first day. McDonald's Japan explained that the hirees were used for "product monitoring purposes".

Product description

In most markets that do not use US customary measurements, the Quarter-Pounder is known as the Hamburger Royale, Royal, McRoyal, or variants thereof. In France, Belgium and Portugal the Quarter Pounder includes cheese as standard and is named Royal Cheese. In Italy, formerly known as McRoyal DeLuxe, it goes by Deluxe, Cheese and Bacon variants.

In English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand that have adopted metrication, the burger retains the Quarter Pounder name. The term Quarterão com Queijo is used in metric Brazil, Cuarto de Libra con Queso in Spain and in Latin America, and Quarter Pounder Cheese is used in Sweden and Finland. In the United States and South Africa there are two variations: the Quarter Pounder with cheese, and the Quarter Pounder Deluxe. In some Middle-Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, McDonald's provides both a Quarter Pounder and a McRoyale burger on its menu, the McRoyale having slightly different ingredients. In Hong Kong, the Quarter-Pounder is known as a "full three taels" (Chinese: 足三両) in Chinese because three taels is approximately equal in weight to a quarter pound, while the English name Quarter-Pounder is retained. In Taiwan it is known as "four-ounces beef hamburger" (Chinese: 四盎司牛肉堡). Quarter-Pounder is unavailable in mainland China. In Russia and Ukraine, it was known as Royal Cheeseburger, and since 2016 in Russia it is called Grand Cheeseburger. In Japan, the name is a katakana representation of "Quarter-Pounder" (Japanese: クォーターパウンダー Ku~ōtā Paundā).

The burger comprises a beef patty weighing 4.25 oz. (120.5 g) before cooking and 3 oz. prepared, pickles, raw onion, ketchup, and mustard. In all or much of the New York City area, it is served without mustard, as are burgers made with the smaller 1.6-ounce patties.

The nutritional content of the Quarter Pounder varies between countries and locations. For example, in Australia, which uses local beef for its McDonald's products, the average Quarter Pounder has 33.7 g of protein per serving, a higher value than that stated for the same burger in the United States.

Other quarter-pound hamburgers

"Quarter Pounder" is a trademark in the United States, but restaurants in other countries have been able to use similar names for their own products, such as the British Wimpy chain's "Quarterpounder."