New York
CNN
—
McDonald's, which has concentrated on updating its core positions to boost sales, rolls out a series of changes designed to improve its signature hamburgers.
The buns will be softer. Cheese that is stickier. The onion will be added to the cutlets directly on the grill. What about Big Mac sauce? There will be more of them.
“We found that small changes, such as tweaking our process to produce hotter, more melty cheese and adjusting grill settings for better sear, added up to making our burgers taste better than ever,” Chef Chad Schafer, senior director of culinary innovation for McDonald's U.S., said in a statement Monday. The updates will include the Big Mac and McDouble burgers, as well as the classic cheeseburger, double cheeseburger and hamburger.
According to the company, the improvements were made to the burgers for the first time in international markets and have already appeared in some US cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas. They will be available nationally by early next year.
The changes follow other improvements to key menu items.
In 2018, McDonald's announced a transition to fresh beef for quarter poundersA difficult move With big profit from sales. In 2021 it's released a crispy chicken sandwich replace previous iterations – relatively late to the chicken sandwich warbut seems to have resonated with McDonald's customers. .
“We are increasing market share in both chicken and beef” with improved hamburgers and products such as the chicken sandwich, McDonald's said.
(MCD) CEO Chris Kempczinski on a January call with analysts. “In an environment where our customers are looking for simple and familiar, our core menu items have never been more relevant,” he said. In the U.S., sales at stores open at least 13 months jumped 5.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022, up 10.3% for the full year.
Focusing on promoting core menu items rather than introducing new products is a way to streamline processes and reduce friction in the kitchen. And McDonald's uses promotions like celebrity food platforms and adult Happy Meal to create a buzz around their branded products.
“Throughout 2022, some of our most successful advertising platforms brought our customers closer to core menu items,” Kempczinski said during the January call.
McDonald's isn't the only brand trying to improve its core offerings.
Burger King, which last year announced I plan to turn my business aroundfocused on improving the Whopper and increasing its visibility in advertising. In the fourth quarter of last year, the company provided Whopper training to franchisees. In February, the brand said the Whopper helped boost U.S. sales in the quarter.
