McDonald's is making 4 key changes to its burgers — here's what to expect
- McDonald's is making four tweaks to its signature Big Mac sandwich and cheeseburgers.
- Additions include caramelized onions, softer buns, melted cheese, and more Big Mac sauce.
McDonald's is making some tweaks to its signature Big Mac sandwich and classic cheeseburgers.
The additions include caramelized onions, softer buns, and melted cheese, instead of the room temperature cheese slices added on burgers now. Big Macs will also come with more Big Mac sauce, the company said in a press release.
"We found that small changes, like tweaking our process to get hotter, meltier cheese and adjusting our grill settings for a better sear, added up to a big difference in making our burgers more flavorful than ever," Chad Schafer, senior director of culinary innovation, at McDonald's USA, said in the release.
The new burgers will roll out to McDonald's locations nationwide in 2024, the company said. But they are already available in over 10 west coast cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland.
The decision to tinker with its burgers follows McDonald's rebranding of its crispy chicken sandwich to the McCrispy last month. The sandwich was introduced in 2021 as an upgrade to its previous offering. As part of the name change, McDonald's introduced two limited-time offers to its chicken sandwich lineup in March, the Bacon Ranch McCrispy and Bacon Ranch deluxe McCrispy.
McDonald's last reported earnings in late January and posted strong fourth-quarter same-store sales growth of 10.3% in the US. Foot traffic improved by 5%, even as many diners shun restaurants amid high inflation.
"Overall, the consumer, whether it's in Europe or the US, is actually holding up better than what we would have probably expected, or maybe what I would have expected, a year ago or six months ago," CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts on the company's latest earnings call.
Outside of its restaurants, McDonald's laid off hundreds of corporate employees this month as part of a company reorganization that impacted both newcomers and longtime employees. Some staff was allowed to stay if they agreed to a cut in benefits, the Wall Street Journal reported.