new York
CNN
—
McDonald’s, which has focused on upgrading its core products to boost sales, is rolling out a series of changes aimed at improving its iconic burgers.
The buns will be softer. Cheese, more gooey. The onion will be added to the patties directly on the grill. What about Big Mac sauce? There will be more.
“We found that small changes, like tweaking our process for hotter, meltier cheese and adjusting our grill settings for better sear, made a big difference in making our burgers tastier than ever,” said the chef Chad Schafer, senior director. of culinary innovation from McDonald’s USA, in a press release Monday. The improvements apply to the Big Mac and McDouble burger as well as the classic cheeseburger, double cheeseburger and hamburger.
The improvements first rolled out to burgers in international markets, the company said, and have already arrived in select U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix and Las Vegas. They will be available nationally early next year.
The changes follow other improvements to key menu items.
In 2018, McDonald’s announced it was switching to fresh beef for its Quarter Pounders, a complicated move that would pay off big in sales. In 2021, it launched a crispy chicken sandwich to replace previous iterations — a relatively late arrival in the chicken sandwich wars, but one that seems to have resonated with McDonald’s customers. .
“We are gaining market share in chicken and beef,” thanks to improved burgers and products such as the chicken sandwich, McDonald’s (MCD) CEO Chris Kempczinski said on a call with analysts in January. “In an environment where our customers are looking for what is simple and familiar, our core menu items have never been more relevant,” he said. In the United States, sales at stores open at least 13 months jumped 5.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of 10.3% for the whole year.
Focusing on promoting its core menu items, rather than introducing new products, is one way to streamline processes and reduce friction in the kitchen. And McDonald’s has used promotions like celebrity dining platforms and the Adult Happy Meal to create buzz around its flagship products.
“Throughout 2022, some of our most successful campaign platforms have brought our customers closer to the basic menu items,” Kempczinski said on the January call.
McDonald’s isn’t the only brand trying to improve its core offerings.
Burger King, which last year announced a plan to turn around its business, has focused on improving the Whopper and making it more visible in advertising. In the fourth quarter of last year, Whopper training courses were held for franchisees. The brand said in February that the Whopper contributed to higher U.S. sales during that quarter.