McDonald’s invented the fast food burger industry.
And for more than sixty years now the company has thoroughly dominated the market.
But now McDonald’s is making this drastic change to its burgers.
McDonald’s is going bigger in move that makes the Hamburglar’s job harder
The rise of fast casual burger chains, like Five Guys, Culver’s, Shake Shack, Whataburger, and others, not to mention the recent turnarounds in fortune for classic fast food chains, like Wendy’s and Burger King, has McDonald’s facing more competition than ever.
Of course, considering the fact that the fast food chain still generates nearly $50 billion in annual sales – more than $37 billion more than its next closest fast food competitor, Wendy’s – it’s not like the company is in any danger.
Nevertheless, refusing to rest on their laurels, McDonald’s has developed a plan to fight back against the growing number of competitors vying for a piece of their empire.
And part of that plan apparently involves a new menu item – a new burger that’s even larger than both the Quarter Pounder and Big Mac, which are each responsible for more than $1 billion in annual sales.
According to McDonald’s Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden, the company has “created a larger satiating burger” in order to “further build on our leadership in beef.”
McDonald’s hopes that the new, bigger burger will be in all of their franchise locations by 2026.
“We’ll be testing this burger in a few markets later this year, ensuring that it has universal appeal before scaling it across the globe,” Borden added.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski previously admitted that the company was looking for an answer to consumers’ growing interest in larger, higher-quality burgers than that offered by the typical fast food chain, which has spurned the growth and popularity of Five Guys, Shake Shack, and others.
More changes coming
“We’re addressing an unmet customer need across markets for larger high-quality burgers,” CEO Chris Kempczinski declared earlier this year.
“We’re working horizontally across the system to innovate. As we test and learn, we’ll be working to understand how the new offering will complement our already established burgers, like the Double QPC [Quarter Pounder with Cheese] or the Big Tasty,” he continued.
In addition to the new product, McDonald’s is also looking to make some 50 changes in how they prepare their other burgers, including changing the way they cook the burgers and buns.
“We can do it quick, fast and safe, but it doesn’t necessarily taste great. So, we want to incorporate quality into where we’re at,” McDonald’s senior director of global menu strategy Chris Young told The Wall Street Journal.
For example, McDonald’s is changing the way they prepare their iconic Big Mac, cutting back on the number of patties they prepare at a time in order to improve the sear each receives.
Furthermore, the Big Mac’s familiar sesame seed bun will be replaced by a buttery brioche bun with the seeds placed atop it.
While the changes won’t happen overnight, McDonald’s expects that customers everywhere will be able to experience their new burgers by the end of the year.
McDonald’s coming out with a bigger 4 patty Big Mac? Hell… Wait till you see our new Protein Plus burger! pic.twitter.com/rBEFYpC8uK
— MAGA Meme Man (@MAGA_Meme_Man) May 6, 2024
In its never-ending chase for profit, McDonald’s is doing everything it can to try to stay ahead of the competition, including this . . .
hi they told me i could design cars for my besties bubba & tyler pic.twitter.com/1DVnTCgHRx
— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) May 9, 2024
