McDonald’s is giving its menu the biggest shakeup in years

New York
CNN
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McDonald’s hopes a new value menu will win back customers who have been put off by the higher prices.

On Friday, the fast food chain revealed The “McValue” menu, a new, budget-friendly category that will roll out to U.S. restaurants on January 7, 2025. The popular $5 meal deal unveiled earlier this year will be the centerpiece. The menu will also feature a new “Buy One, Add One for $1” that includes breakfast.

McDonald’s is trying to restore growth after some dismal quarters. The chain’s value perception has been dampened among its money-conscious customers as the average price of its menu items has risen about 40% over the past five years in line with rising costs, according to the company.

“When it comes to value, we know there is no one size fits all. We have worked closely with our franchisees to create a new platform that will let our customers define value on their own terms,” Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, said in a statement.

The chain had made some progress before an E. coli outbreak in October sent sales and traffic plummeting. McDonald’s announced last week that it is pumping $100 million into marketing and support for franchisees hardest hit by the health scare.

On the McValue menu, there are also more offers in the app, plus local food and drink offers arranged by franchisees.

The national rollout of McValue helps “reinforce the broader image of McDonald’s as a value-oriented brand,” according to David Henkes, a senior principal at Technomic, a food industry research and consulting firm.

“Restaurant traffic continues to be challenged, and this really represents a mindset that value will continue to be important to the consumer for the foreseeable future,” he told CNN. “Inflation remains high and creating a more structured, long-term value platform tells me that McDonald’s really sees opportunity in doubling down on its focus on budget-minded consumers.”

The new menu category is McDonald’s biggest value-conscious effort since 2018, when it cost some items from $1 to $3.

But the dollar menu proved relatively unpopular compared to the far more successful $5 value meal that rolled out this summer. Customers were not necessarily shopping for cheap food so much as value for money.

In the end, inflation has all but wiped out the items found at the lower end of this price range. The McValue menu will replace what’s left of it.