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February 14, 2025
McDonald’s Pivots to Chicken in a Bid To Improve Weak Sales: Will It Work?
After a tepid Q4 earnings report that saw McDonald’s miss a few key metrics, namely same-store sales open at least a year (down 1.4%), flat net sales, and an expectations miss in terms of overall revenue ($6.39 billion versus $6.44 projected by Wall Street), it appears that a simple focus on value proposition may not be enough to drive significant growth.
Now, as Quartz detailed, it appears that the red-and-yellow brand is pivoting to chicken menu offerings — as well as a return of some nostalgic promos — in order to recapture consumer interest.
McDonald’s Brings Back Chicken Snack Wrap, Launches Chicken Strips, and Continues To Advertise McCrispy and Chicken Big Mac
One of the biggest pieces of news for fans of the Golden Arches was the reintroduction of the restaurant chain’s beloved Chicken Snack Wrap to menus nationwide. During a Feb. 10 earnings call, via a transcription provided by The Motley Fool, president and CEO Chris Kempczinski briefly touched upon the high level of interest surrounding the snack wrap’s return.
“This year, there is incredible energy for the return of Snack Wraps in the U.S., along with a few other markets,” Kempczinski said.
Immediately afterward, the McDonald’s CEO outlined the launch of a chicken strip menu offering coming in the near future and spoke to the usage of the company’s popular Big Mac variant — the Chicken Big Mac — as a periodic attraction.
“We’ll continue to pulse in the Chicken Big Mac as a limited-time-only offering over time. In 2024, the Chicken Big Mac helped generate chicken market share growth in France and the U.S.,” he added.
McDonald’s has had some success with chicken strips in the past, according to Mashed. The Chicken Selects were a hit during a nearly 10-year original run, as were the Buttermilk Crispy Tenders put forth in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic curtailed the running time of the latter, but it appears that McDonald’s is ramping up for a third kick at the can.
Finally, Kempczinski reiterated that McDonald’s would continue its rollout of the McCrispy sandwich, which features an all-white meat chicken fillet — as opposed to the chopped and blended McChicken staple — as well as a buttered potato bun.
“We continue to roll out McCrispy, which is now in over 70 markets and will be available in nearly all markets by the end of 2025,” the CEO stated.
McDonald’s and Other Fast-Food Restaurants Turn to Chicken as Price of Beef Rises
There may also be another motivating factor for McDonald’s to pivot toward a chicken-heavy menu besides appealing to consumer tastes: The price of chicken is very attractive compared to the price of beef.
Per a December 2024 report from The Washington Post, this latest push by the Golden Arches is emblematic of a longstanding trend of fast-food restaurants adopting more chicken-based offerings. Chicken is a convenient protein to prepare and is much less costly than its beef counterparts.
“If I’m a restaurant or a chain, I’ve got to put a meal in front of people they can afford,” said David Anderson, a livestock economist at Texas A&M University. “If I want to put something on a menu to reduce my costs, it makes a lot of sense to put a chicken item out there.”
Anderson indicated that, at the time, the price of a fresh, whole chicken in the U.S. was $1.99 a pound, versus about $5.59 per pound of ground beef.
Gesturing toward increased labor costs and persistent inflationary pressures affecting corporations and consumers alike, the Washington Post report suggested it was logical for McDonald’s, and other restaurant brands, to move toward chicken as a result.
“McDonald’s chicken market is twice the size of beef and growing much faster, executives said in their most recent investor call. The fast-food giant serves about 300 million pounds of chicken each year, and its sales are now equally split between chicken and beef,” Washington Post reporter Hannah Ziegler wrote.
“New chicken products contributed to 3 percent revenue growth and a slight same-store sales increase in the United States for the company during the third quarter,” she added.
McDonald’s was joined by both Burger King as well as Shake Shack in buffing up the number of chicken-based menu items last year, with the latter running a promotion for a free chicken sandwich with any purchase of $10 or more on Sundays. Burger King, on the other hand, built upon its launch of crispy chicken snack wraps with a Fiery Royal Chicken Sandwich and Fiery Chicken Fries last summer.
Discussion Questions
Will increased consumer interest in chicken-based fast-food menu items, and the lower overall sourcing cost of the protein, lead to higher profits for McDonald’s in 2025?
What differentiators, if any, can McDonald’s introduce to make itself and its menu items stand out from an increasingly crowded fast-food market, one which is also home to many “chicken-first” competitors?
What other former McDonald’s menu items of days past could be reintroduced to reignite interest in the brand this year?
Poll
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Dick Seesel
Principal, Retailing In Focus LLC
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Principal, KIZER & BENDER Speaking
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The primary problem for McDonald’s isn’t that it has too little chicken on the menu; it’s that prices have risen, and what was once an inexpensive treat has become more of a wallet buster. That said, chicken remains a popular menu item, and McDonald’s might claw some spend from rivals by making it a more significant part of the offer. Menu innovation is also good to keep things fresh and interesting.
A pivot made, not out of strength, but because your core business is shrinking doesn’t sound much like a recipe for success, does it? As they’re facing competitors who have made their whole reputation around chicken – one in particular that’s done quite well with it – I think they’re wise to emphasize offerings beyond a basic sandwich. Unfortunately I’d describe it less as “reigniting interest”, and more as forestalling decline.
I’m confused. Don’t we have a bird flu problem? I don’t eat meat anyway, but how is chicken a motivator. I worry over giving it to my cats!
Cooked chicken does not pass along H5N1. However, with [gestures] THESE guys mismanaging the FDA and Department of Agriculture, I can easily see a massive supply crash as it’s already happening with laying hens. Even without a pandemic it’ll take a good year to ramp up supply but if it gets out of control our continent will have a severe affordable protein shortage. We’re *still* waiting on a farm bill, and thousands of farmers are being stiffed on payments they were supposed to have received. So lots of luck to any restaurant chain wanting to ramp up.
Is McDonald’s using chicken to improve weak sales? Maybe, but McDonald’s is a HAMBURGER joint, play to your strength. Would you order a hamburger from Chick-fil-A? A Chicken Big Mac just sounds, well, wrong.
If McDonald’s is selling as much chicken as beef (per the article), and if its growth potential is higher, why not put your foot on the gas? It’s what consumers want.
It looks ugly too…
It appears that fast food chicken will continue to grow indefinitely, however at some point it will become saturated with competition. McDonald’s will not be able to take market shares from Chick Fil A, KFC, or other chicken “specialists” even with its enormous size and brand recognition.
McDonald’s could introduce new and innovative chicken menu items to meet the diverse tastes and preferences of its customers. Further, they may be able to appeal to health-conscious consumers by improving the quality and sourcing of their chicken products.
In spite of McDonald’s tremendous brand recognition, the company has become virtually invisible on the streets. McDonald’s has lost all of its personality. The “new look” involves all-gray, or all brown square buildings with the only color being a very small logo on the upper side of the buildings. McDonald’s needs to overhaul its revamped design. The vibrant colors and distinctive architecture of McDonald’s must be restored in order to increase its visibility and appeal.
As a result, they will be able to create a more welcoming environment that will attract customers and reinforce their brand identity. The company needs to refocus on improving quality and consistency, as it did in the past.
McDonalds is synonymous with beef, and while tastes may very well be shifting to chicken the winner and still champion there is Chick Fil A. And everyone else has chicken on the menu too, so, no, I do not see this being a difference maker. They should double down on hamburgers and be great at that, which is a differentiator, instead of chasing everyone else down the chicken track.
Chicken is in demand, especially when inflation is high, as it demands fewer resources. McDonald’s needs tasty chicken options on its menu to compete with rivals like Chick-fil-A.
As for retro menu items, the return of the Shamrock Shake is a fun limited-time offer. TikTok got kids hooked on the Grimace Shake while keeping the golden arches relevant and modern.