McDonald's began in 1937 in California and was founded by the McDonald brothers. Ray Kroc joined as a franchise agent in 1955 and later bought out the McDonald brothers, founding McDonald's Corporation. McDonald's pioneered the fast food industry and saw tremendous growth throughout the 20th century, becoming the largest restaurant chain in the world. However, McDonald's faced challenges adapting to the Indian market due to cultural differences around beef consumption and pricing. McDonald's launched vegetarian options and value menus to succeed in India over the past 19 years.