Former McDonald’s chef explains why he believes other countries have 'better quality' menu items

While McDonald’s has expanded to over 100 countries around the world, the menu offerings across the globe differ greatly and a former corporate chef for the fast-food chain has explained why.

In a video posted to TikTok, where he unveils some of the secrets of the fast-food giant, ex-McDonald’s corporate chef Mike Haracz revealed there are a few reasons for this when responding to a fan’s question, who had asked: “Why does it seem like other countries have better quality menu items than American McDonald’s?”

Consumers and staff

As a former corporate chef at McDonald’s, who would be responsible for creating new menu items, Mike is well-versed in what it takes to launch a new product.

One of the main reasons why he believes US McDonald’s seemingly has less-exciting menu options than other countries is due to both customers and staff.

“Consumers in every other country are willing to wait a little longer for their food, they’re a little more adventurous, they are willing to try different flavors and they are also willing to pay a little bit more money than McDonald’s consumers in the US are willing to pay,” he explains. “That does not mean they are not looking for value as well but US consumers are value-driven. ‘Give me the cheapest thing as quickly as possible.’”

On top of this, he states that McDonald’s staff outside of the US are either paid a little more than their American counterparts or have slightly more training, making it easier to launch different menu items.

Supply chain

The “real big main reason” why American McDonald’s might not have as diverse a range of menu options is supply chain and volume, Mike explains.

In other words, as the United States is such a big country, and has comfortably more McDonald’s restaurants than any other country in the world, a greater amount of ingredients are needed to launch items in America versus the rest of the world.

“Exporting and importing food items is a pain in the butt,” Mike says. “The longer something has to take to get somewhere, the greater distance, the faster it goes bad, the more expensive it is.”

So you try to source as close to your restaurants or your locations as possible,” he continues. “And since they [other countries] do not sell nearly as much as the US, they do not have to worry about a lot of the sourcing issues that those in the US have to and they can serve cooler, stranger, more exotic things cause they don’t need nearly as much of that ingredient to launch it in their country.”