In order to further accommodate customers whose religions prohibit eating pork, beef, or meat in general, McDonald's will be opening its first-ever fully vegetarian restaurant in northern India midway through 2013. The AFP reports that the outlet will be located near the Golden Temple in the Sikh city of Amritsar. It will be followed by a second location in Katra, "near the Vaishno Devi cave shrine in Indian Kashmir, a revered Hindu pilgrimage site that draws hundreds of thousands of worshippers a year."
The menu at the 271 McDonald's outlets currently open in India (a small number considering the chain's worldwide influence and the country's 1.2 billion inhabitants) already have a fifty-percent vegetarian menu. But according to a spokesman for the company, Rajesh Kumar Maini, they're looking to boost their presence, as well as open more strictly vegetarian outlets. "When you look at the potential of the country," said Maini, "it's one of the top priority countries and we're laying the groundwork for capturing the market."
· McDonald's to open first vegetarian outlet [AFP]
· All McDonald's Coverage on Eater [-E-]