McDonald’s, the global fast-food giant, is exploring the possibility of adding a larger burger to its menu, aiming to enhance its offerings in the beef category. Ian Borden, the Chief Financial Officer of McDonald’s, shared on Tuesday that the company has developed a “larger satiating burger.” This new product is part of McDonald’s strategy to “further build on our leadership in beef,” according to Borden.
The company plans to conduct tests of this new burger in select markets later this year. The goal of these tests is to ensure that the burger appeals to a broad audience before it is introduced worldwide.
This development comes after McDonald’s reported earlier in the year that its beef and chicken products are now equally popular, each bringing in about $25 billion in annual systemwide sales. The company, which boasted over 41,800 locations worldwide by the end of 2023, is well-known for its wide array of burgers, including the famous Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder.
Chris Kempczinski, the CEO of McDonald’s, mentioned in early February that the company is working to meet a customer demand for larger, high-quality burgers. He stated, “We’re working horizontally across the system to innovate. As we test and learn, we’ll be working to understand how the new offering will complement our already established burgers, like the Double QPC [Quarter Pounder with Cheese] or the Big Tasty.”
In an effort to continually innovate, U.S. McDonald’s locations introduced the Double Big Mac, which features four beef patties, to their menus for a limited time in late January. Which has been around on and off for years.
Additionally, over the past year, McDonald’s has made several improvements to its popular burger options, including the cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, hamburger, McDouble, and Big Mac. These changes were part of its “Best Burger” initiative, which launched in early 2023. The initiative aims to enhance the taste and quality of its burgers, making them “hotter,” “juicier,” and “tastier.”
According to reports, the “Best Burger” improvements have already been implemented in over 80% of McDonald’s locations worldwide, including across the U.S. The company aims to have these updates in nearly all its locations by the end of 2026.
