Howrah residents will soon have easier access to junk food with a new McDonald’s starting construction this week.
It is the first new restaurant in the chain to open in Tasmania since the Devonport Homemaker restaurant in 2013, and the 16th in the state.
The new facility will be owned and operated by local Hobart Licensee, John Barry-Murphy, who currently employs over 220 staff at his existing restaurant in Rosny Park. Barry-Murphy has been a Licensee for 27 years following a career in management.
The Howrah franchise is expected to provide another 120 jobs. Construction of the facility will cost around $5m, with the opening expected toward the end of the year.
The new restaurant will be fitted with modern décor and host a McCafé, dual lane drive thru, dedicated partner delivery room and a PlayPlace for families.
Despite the chain steadfastly refusing to make significant improvements the nutritional content of its offerings, Barry-Murphy was confident in what he sells.
“We look forward to serving up our great tasting, great quality menu once the restaurant opens later this year,” he said.
The McDonald’s chain has long been criticised not just being a purveyor of junk food but for its unethical marketing to children.
It has also been targeted by animal rights groups due to cruelty in its supply chain. A vegan burger, currently being trialled in the USA, is not yet available in Australia.
In recent years it has attempted to use advertising to change the image of its procurement practices, but this too has come under fire as ‘farmwashing’.
“The reality is that no corporation is more central to telling farmers to grow an inordinate amount of food that is bad for both people’s health and the environment,” said Sara Deon, a director at Corporate Accountability International, in an interview with the Financial Times.
