CHICAGO — It has been 30 years since McDonald’s Corp. introduced its McCafé coffee platform and, to address regional differences in flavors and formats around the world, a fragmented business has emerged. Now the company is focused on streamlining its coffee business and delivering a consistent product around the world.

“While we’ve had success with our McCafé business across the globe, in markets like Australia, Canada, the UK and Middle East, we still haven't realized our full global potential,” said Jo Sempels, president of international developmental licensed markets during the company’s Dec. 6 investor day presentation. “Our customers already trust us to deliver hot, fresh and delicious food, and that trust grants us the opportunity to deliver exactly the same through McCafé.”

Limiting the growth of the business have been different regional programs, regional sub-brands and different pieces of equipment in restaurants around the world. Yet despite the regional limitations, McDonald’s sells nearly 8 million cups of coffee per day and is the No. 2 coffee player globally, according to the company. Now management is focusing on streamlining operations and using its scale to grow.

“First and foremost, we’ll establish McCafé as part of our core menu offering, and as our only brand for coffee at McDonald’s,” Mr. Sempels said. “Next, we plan to address the inconsistency and availability, experience and taste across the system by reducing the use of over 100 types of equipment for coffee to a smaller list of only five global suppliers. This will ensure gold standard execution around the world while still giving markets the flexibility to address local tastes and preferences.”

In addition to delivering consistency, McDonald’s also is working to gain share in the market for cold coffee beverages.

“We’re developing a plan on how to best adapt and execute against cold coffee beverages,” Mr. Sempels said. “And that plan will provide convenience, value and high-quality taste synonymous with McDonald’s to our customers across all markets across the globe.”