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After upgrading its burger recipe in 2018 by transitioning to fresh beef, McDonald's now aims to further boost consumer enjoyment with a new set of improved cooking and preparation techniques.
After upgrading its burger recipe in 2018 by transitioning to fresh beef, McDonald's now aims to further boost consumer enjoyment with a new set of improved cooking and preparation techniques.
From softer, freshly toasted buns, still with that iconic golden color, to cheese melted to perfection, and juicier, more caramelized onions, these improvements could have gone unnoticed... if they weren't coming to one of the world's most famous burger joints. McDonald's has decided to revise some of the steps involved in preparing its burgers, the fast-food giant announced in an official statement from its Chicago headquarters. The news certainly won't leave fans of the brand indifferent, if only because the firm promises to add more Big Mac sauce to its iconic creation. But the flagship McDonald's Big Mac sandwich isn't the only one benefiting from these adjustments, since McDouble burgers, Cheeseburgers, Double Cheeseburgers and Hamburgers will also have to meet the same new standards.
"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," said Chef Chad Schafer, Senior Director of Culinary Innovation, McDonald’s USA, to explain the motivation behind these changes. Before rolling them out in the US, the fast-food giant tested them in its Australian, Belgian and Canadian restaurants. The change is now official, with these new cooking and preparation methods already deployed to restaurants located in cities on the West Coast of the United States, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. By the end of 2024, its restaurants across the entire United States will adopt these new burger-making standards.
McDonald's does not specify which other markets will be subject to these changes. Regardless, these improvements are significant, as the last time the giant tweaked its recipe was in 2018, when the Chicago-based company decided to abandon frozen beef in favor of fresh meat.
According to McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski, quoted by CNN, the move is about focusing on the iconic products that made the fast-food chain successful, something that has also been going on at competitor chains like Burger King. "In an environment where our customers are looking for the simple and familiar, our core menu items have never been more relevant," he told the US TV network. According to CNN, McDonald's would rather go down this path than launch new products in order to maintain simpler manufacturing processes and avoid creating problems for kitchen teams. To this end, the fast-food chain recently used the Happy Meal -- another of its flagship, historical products -- to drum up a buzz by promoting an adult version of the usually kid-focused meal.
Finally, these recipe changes should not be interpreted as a means to lure back fans. In fact, McDonald's is as popular as ever worldwide, and the number of people visiting its restaurants increased by 12.6% in 2022. However, due to inflation, menu prices did increase last year.
