May 27 - McDonald's Corp is looking at expanding its chain of McCafe stores to 1,200 in Europe by the end of the year, the Financial Times reported on its website late on Tuesday.
"We can become the biggest seller of coffee in Europe," the paper quoted Jerome Tafani, chief financial officer for McDonald's Europe, as saying.
The paper did not say where in Europe the expansion will happen or how many McCafe stores were operating there currently.
McDonald's said its strategy of opening McCafes in existing restaurants in Europe has allowed it to recoup its investment more quickly than rival Starbucks Corp, according to the paper.
"Our business case is not the same as Starbucks," the paper quoted Tafani as saying.