Photo by Jurji Kenda on Unsplash
Will McDonald’s ‘Best Burgers’ Improve the Chain’s Sales?
McDonald’s has revamped its burgers, making small yet noticeable alterations designed to improve the flavor. This move comes amid a challenging environment in which the fast-food giant and its competitors are struggling to attract more foot traffic. Furthermore, recent price increases have sparked concern among customers, making it necessary for the chains to prove their offerings are worth the price tag.
In an attempt to strike a balance between maintaining familiar tastes and enhancing flavor, McDonald’s has revised its cooking and assembly processes under its “Best Burger” initiative, which was announced late last year. Rather than altering the beef patty, the company now gives the patties more room to cook on the grill, cooking only six at a time instead of the previous eight. It also adds onions before cooking to let them absorb the patty’s juices.
Other modifications include keeping the patties hotter to ensure the entire burger stays warm upon reaching customers, improving cheese melting, enhancing the quality of the buns, and adding more of the signature Big Mac sauce. These changes, however subtle, are expected to enrich the overall dining experience.
The fast-food chain started serving these enhanced burgers approximately a year ago, but only recently has it extended the initiative to all of its locations across the nation. Interestingly, in countries like Australia and Canada where the “Best Burger” has already been introduced, McDonald’s has seen business growth, suggesting the upgrades may have contributed to this success.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in December that the “Best Burger” initiative was “on track to hit 70 markets by the end of 2023,” and nearly all of its markets by 2026. These small changes are expected to create a big impact that customers will appreciate.
To advertise the change, McDonald’s is featuring the Hamburglar, a familiar character from its 1970s ads, in its current TV commercials in markets that carry the “Better Burger.” Moreover, a visit to the McDonald’s website reveals the Hamburglar’s endorsement of the improved burger splashed across the homepage.
The revamp, however, does not apply to the Quarter Pounder, which underwent changes in 2018, shifting from frozen to fresh beef. This alteration was instrumental in McDonald’s gaining market share in the burger category for the first time in five years.
Opinions are mixed on the potential for the “Best Burger” to boost significant growth. Some are doubtful, considering it part of a long-term strategy to enhance food quality. Yet amid the skepticism, some early indicators suggest customers are eager to taste the improved burgers.
McDonald’s Improved Past Sales With Fresh Beef Quarter Pounders
In the spring of 2018, McDonald’s switched from frozen to fresh beef for its Quarter Pounder burgers, and according to a report by USA Today, purchases surged by a significant 30%.
In an interview, Marion Gross, McDonald’s senior vice president of supply chain management, expressed satisfaction with the response from customers. “We sold 40 million more Quarter Pounder burgers nationally in the first quarter of this year compared to the quarter in 2018,” she explained.
This move toward fresh beef isn’t exclusive to McDonald’s — several other fast-food giants like Wendy’s, Five Guys, Culver’s, Whataburger, In-N-Out, Shake Shack, and Smashburger have also made the shift away from frozen beef, Gross revealed.
Customers’ desire for transparency regarding food sourcing and preparation has been a driving force behind this change, according to Gross. McDonald’s aims to enhance customer satisfaction by providing clear information about its products. While the transition from frozen to fresh beef was a significant undertaking for McDonald’s, it’s important to note that some locations, such as those in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories, still use frozen beef.
Also in 2019, McDonald’s made strategic decisions following the underperformance of its Signature Crafted Recipes. The company discontinued these products and focused instead on promoting its core offering, particularly the Quarter Pounder burgers.
According to Robert Derrington, a senior restaurant analyst at the Telsey Advisory Group, McDonald’s success with fresh beef has demonstrated that it can effectively enhance its menu offerings without relying on higher-end products. This strategic shift aligns with McDonald’s goal of meeting customer preferences while maintaining profitability.
Discussion Questions
How do subtle yet strategic alterations in product preparation, such as those seen in McDonald’s “Best Burger” initiative, influence consumer perception and loyalty in the highly competitive fast-food industry?
How might these changes shape the future of the fast-food industry, especially in terms of sourcing practices and customer trust?
What lessons can be drawn from McDonald’s experiences in navigating these shifts, and how might they apply to businesses beyond the fast-food industry?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
David Naumann
Marketing Strategy Lead - Retail, Travel & Distribution, Verizon
Mark Self
President and CEO, Vector Textiles
I would file this under the category of housekeeping: improving the taste and quality of products is something that should be kept under constant review. However, I do not see this moving the needle in a dramatic way for McDonald’s. It’s not as if the current offering tastes horrible, so incremental improvements will likely drive only an incremental upside to frequency and customer numbers. Sure, this is helpful in an environment where volumes remain under pressure, but it doesn’t remedy the main problem of customers thinking menu prices have gone too high.
The drive to deliver a better product is an ongoing pursuit, and it’s clear that McDonald’s is not resting on its laurels. It can’t afford to. Even subtle changes in product quality or presentation can have a meaningful impact. This is especially important in the fast food business where competition fierce, and the industry must contend with headwinds from consumers who are concerned about their health are eating less meat, and/or trying to be environmentally conscious since the beef industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Notwithstanding the challenges, McDonald’s history of experimentation and their thoughtful approach to launching new offerings – and discontinuing ones that don’t resonate – is part of why they remain the most successful fast food chain in the world.
The U.S., and many other markets around the world, have been embracing the idea of larger burgers. Fast-casual and higher-end burger chains like Five Guys, Shake Shack, and Smashburger have contributed to the push.
In order to improve the quality of their burgers, McDonald’s came up with a few relatively easy fixes. Kempczinski, CEO of McDonalds, says on interviews that the McDonalds will be able to deliver a great-tasting large burger at a superior value.
But what it comes down to is consumers. Will they know about the changes, and if so, will they go to McDonalds to try it out? With almost all other fast food chains promising bigger and better, will McDonald’s voice stand out? I would think so, and for one good reason, it’s McDonalds.
The changes need to live up to the advertising message and the promises. McDonalds needs to do a better job with this than they did with serving upscale coffee that would compete with Starbucks. That mission fell short, and Starbucks lost no business at all to McDonalds. Different reasons, different story.
McDonalds certainly has the advantage, because of it’s “brand,” but success comes down to performance. Years ago, I would have always bet on success for McDonalds, in almost anything they decided to do, but these days, I don’t feel as confident. I think McDonalds will do better than before but not nearly as much as what’s needed. – Db
OK, so McDonald’s has fodder for a new marketing campaign where they can talk about “new and improved” burgers. Color me skeptical, reeaaalllyyy skeptical. Any brand, all brands…need some kind of ongoing process that pressure tests their product against any new developments in the market at large. The competitive marketplace demands that. Cooking 6 burgers at a time instead of 8…??? Uhhhh…ok. Adding onions while cooking? That only took 4 or 5 decades. But they lost me at adding more Big Mac sauce. Any other flavor enhancements just got drowned out by more of that sauce. The Big Mac sauce may be core to the DNA of that burger, but more was not the answer. They could have made a campaign out of offering a whole new range of Big Mac sauces instead. That would have been interesting. I used to enjoy a Big Mac and fries, but at this point I am not hearing anything that will tear me away from Five Guys any time soon.
You’ve said it all. Ditto.
Small changes with McDonald’s favorites is okay if the changes are subtle. The chain could move the sales needle just by tweaking the Big Mac, but not in the direction it wants to go.
Improving/changing things we depend on to taste the same, wherever we are, is heresy.
Many years ago in an alternative life I once suggested to a hypothetical fast food burger chain that improving flavor was the key to boosting sales. Good advice then … not taken by the way. Good advice now. But, I son’t usually think of flavor/product improvement as, ” … subtle yet strategic …” This seems like more of a PR move than a bold leap forward.
Burgers are their core business and as such it makes a lot of sense to me to continue to improve on their offerings. Keep innovating, that is the message I am reading here, and I thing McDonalds and their customers will benefit from this focus.
The changes that are included in the “Best Burger” initiative seem fairly subtle. I am not sure they are significant enough to drive customers to try the new burger options. As a fan of the Big Mack sauce, I like the idea of adding it to more burgers. I think trying a new seasoning on the burgers to give them more flavor might be more impactful.
Does anyone go to McDs because they love the burgers? Or do they go because it is inexpensive, convenient, accessible, fast, and tummy-filling?
There is nothing wrong with improving the product. Companies should be doing it all the time. Improvement is a long-term challenge. Are these improvements going to be noticeable? If they are, will hungry customers turn right into McDs rather than left into Burger King? I doubt it.
I go there instead of Wendy’s or Burger King because its location does not force me to drive off my usual route. But I’m going less frequently because a lunch meal there is only a couple dollars less than Culver’s, where the quality and menu diversity is leaps and bounds above. And my health doesn’t need the carb bomb anyway – we used to be a real country with side salads!
This reminds me of the “fry wars” from 25 years ago, with endless think pieces about the R&D efforts and equipment changes needed to create a superior spud. Yet nothing really changed in the end.
I do love a Big Mac!
But, will the improvements be an improvement for you?
They lost me at the Hamburglar.
More than likely, these enhancements will drive some growth. Ironically, the amount of growth may be more of a function of the PR the changes are receiving than due to the actual changes themselves. For an iconic brand, free positive PR is always welcome.
Since the pricing has gotten too expensive for the value customer, I don’t know that adding more expensive burgers is going to help their bottom line. They are at a crossroads. They need to figure out who they want to be and then move forward. At the present time, the value proposition isn’t it especially when your labor is going up faster than you can increase pricing…
McDonalds recent efforts making subtle changes to ingredients and processes require additional operational focus and training. As they implement, they’ll likely discover other opportunities in-store which need fixing.
The winner here should be the customer, noticing these updates in taste and quality, even if only slight. It should help bring the perception about the food just a little closer to what they are now paying for it.
Best Burger won’t increase quality perception anywhere near Shake Shack, In-N-Out Burger or Five Guys. Few of those customers will convert to buying more McDonalds food. But it should be enough to see a sales jump at the expense of other chains, and will more than cover operations and product expenses already underway.
From “insane burger challenges in AZ” to the “bossmansburgerfactory” social media is full of the next “OG burger”. It boils down to Perception of Authenticity – some of us associate regional specialty burger joints with a sense of authenticity and uniqueness. McDonald’s, with its standardized branding, the “Founder’s – speedy service system” scene, and global presence, may struggle to convey the same level of authenticity, loyal following, that smaller, local establishments can offer.
Increasing their product quality and decreasing their selling price should always be on McDonald’s focused operations hitlist. Here, they are only focusing on quality and ignoring price. The winning combination must include price, so that consumers feel that their McDonald’s experience offers them the best value for their dining experience.
I appreciate that they want to upgrade their burger. Always a good idea.
But the bigger picture for McDonalds is they need to bring back lost customers. In a world where quality is subjective, it seems to me they should have introduced a new burger.