Who owns McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean)?
McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) is operated by Arcos Dorados (Uruguay, NYSE: ARCO) under licence, an arrangement in place since 2007; Arcos Dorados does not own the name.[1] The McCafé name is owned by McDonald's.
Evidence: Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-04-30, SEC EDGAR, 30 April 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Licensed to
- Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. verified
- Since
- Headquarters
- 🇺🇾 Uruguay, Montevideo
- Origin
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- Category
- Restaurants & foodservice › Quick-service restaurants › Coffee & café chains
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: ARCO
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean)
McCafé is the coffee counter built inside a McDonald's restaurant, selling lattes, cappuccinos, mochas and hot chocolate, and the 467 of them in Latin America and the Caribbean are run by Arcos Dorados under the same master franchise agreements that cover the restaurants. The company treats them as a brand extension rather than as outlets, counting them apart from its restaurant estate because they sit inside existing stores and earn a wider margin.
Ownership timeline of McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean)
Where McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) sits in Arcos Dorados
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Other brands in coffee & café chains, and who owns them
The 24 brands in coffee & café chains on Brandtree belong to 18 owners. The largest is Jollibee Group, with 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Compose Coffee | Jollibee Group | 🇵🇭 Philippines |
| Coffee Couture | Famous Brands | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| Mikka Coffee Roaster | After You | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| Elios Craft Cafe | BMMI | 🇧🇭 Bahrain |
| CHAGEE | Chagee | 🇨🇳 China |
| Costa Coffee | Coca-Cola | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Dutch Bros | Dutch Bros | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Dunkin' | Inspire Brands | 🇺🇸 United States |
About the owner: Arcos Dorados
Arcos Dorados is a publicly listed company headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, founded in 2007.
Arcos Dorados is the world's largest independent McDonald's franchisee, holding the exclusive right to own, operate and sub-franchise McDonald's restaurants in twenty-one countries and territories across Latin America and the Caribbean. It operated or franchised 2,520 restaurants at the end of 2025, about 4.4 per cent of McDonald's global sales. Incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and run from Montevideo, it owns none of the names above its doors: its rights come from master franchise agreements that McDonald's can decline to renew, after which it would have to stop using the brand and the intellectual property behind it altogether.
Arcos Dorados: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇦🇺 McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) and other Australian brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 228 brands that began in Australia. 72 of them (32%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) among them.
Frequently asked questions
Who makes McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean)?
Arcos Dorados makes and sells McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) under a licensing agreement that has been in place since 2007.
Does Arcos Dorados own McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean)?
No. Arcos Dorados holds a licence to make and sell McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean), which is not the same as owning it. The name belongs to McDonald's.
Who owns the McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) name?
McDonald's owns the McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) trademark. Arcos Dorados pays to use it.
Where did McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) come from?
McCafé (Latin America and the Caribbean) originated in Australia.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-04-30 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 20-F, published 30 April 2026; retrieved 21 September 2026.
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