Culture Difference Chipotle vs. McDonalds

A very interesting thing happened today. KeaneVCC follows both CNBC and The Wall Street Journal on Twitter. The differences in cultures of Chipotle and McDonalds were put on full display with separate press releases thrown up on Twitter within an hour of eachother. 

Chipotle has announced (CNBC link here) that in order to continue to get the best employees, they are raising benefits to include tuition reimbursement, paid vacation, and paid leave.

McDonalds also had a major announcement today. They hired Robert Gibbs their new Chief Communications Officer (Wall Street Journal link here).

It is interesting to think that up to a certain point, both companies are committing millions of dollars on their corporate message in very different ways in order to achieve the same goal. Lately there is more and more evidence of this cultural divide between companies run by Boomers and Gen Xer's and newer companies run by Gen Xer's and Millenials. Newer companies seem to be going back to the WWII generation model when it comes to compensation and employee value. 

Eliminating Food Waste Gaining Worldwide Traction

Written by Mike Keane


Food Waste has been a regular problem that has not garnered enough attention in the past. With the help of some dedicated companies and groups, that attention level is being raised exponentially. There is evidence that from the local to the international levels, eliminating food waste is becoming a topic that powerful people are becoming more and more active.

Locally, there is a company named Zero Percent (website link here) that has created an app that connects food sources (restaurants, stores, warehouses, etc.) with shelters and food banks in order to alleviate the issue of food waste in Chicago. The company has been very successful being able to sign on some of the most recognizable restaurants (Lou Malnati's, Hannah's Bretzel, etc.) to use their app and assist in providing assistance to the area's food banks and shelters.

On a global scale, western Europe has seemed to take on this topic full steam of late. Recently, the French government has put in a law demanding that grocery stores donate unused expiring food (Huffington Post link here). Now Britain's largest retailer is getting in on the action. Tesco will be instituting a test program by having some of their stores donate unsold food to shelters (Huffington Post link here).

The exciting part of this growing area of interest is that less and less families will be hungry due to common sense values and focused action. There is even some value economically for those looking to create a business around the topic. If you are looking to participate, or just simply have an idea about eliminating food waste, feel free to reply or email keanevcc@gmail.com.