Happy New Year 2025

Tag: McDonalds

McDonald’s plans more chicken offerings

McDonald’s franchise owner Scott Rodrick says his business has experienced ‘cost pressure’ since California’s minimum wage increase targeting fast food franchises on ‘Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.’

McDonald’s is looking to further ramp up its chicken business through more offerings.

CEO Chris Kempczinski indicated Monday during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call that McDonald’s was very bullish about its chicken portfolio and shared some offerings in the pipeline.

“This year, there is incredible energy for the return of Snack Wraps in the U.S. along with a few other markets,” he told analysts and investors.

A McDonald’s restaurant on Feb. 9, 2009, in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

McDonald’s has plans to introduce a “new chicken strip offering” in the U.S. too, according to Kempczinksi.

MCDONALD’S TO ROLL OUT SHAMROCK SHAKE WITH HELP OF UNCLE O’GRIMACEY

The fast-food giant revealed late last year that it would add the Snack Wrap back to its menus. It has been about eight years since McDonald’s offered the fan-favorite in the U.S.

“This has a cult following,” McDonald’s U.S. President Joe Erlinger told “Good Morning America” in December. “I get so many emails into my inbox about this product. It will be back in 2025.”

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MCD MCDONALD’S CORP. 308.42 +14.12 +4.80%

When asked on the earnings call about timing and details for the snack wraps and chicken strips, Kempczinski was tight-lipped.

“We do have, I think, some very exciting food news, food innovation coming in the U.S., but my U.S. team would kill me if I gave any more details about the when and the exact specifics of how we’re going to plan on doing that, but certainly expect that to come online later in the year,” he said.

Kempczinski also said the fast-food giant will “continue to pulse in the Chicken Big Mac as a limited-time-only offering over time.”

The Chicken Big Mac offers many of the same ingredients its beef predecessor does. (McDonald’s / Fox News)

McDonald’s offered the Chicken Big Mac – a sandwich made with two chicken patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese and pickles between two buns – at U.S. restaurants for a limited time in October. Restaurants in other countries have sold it in the past as well.

MCDONALD’S DEBUTS NEW VALUE MENU, EXTENDS $5 MEAL DEAL

The Chicken Big Mac “helped generate chicken market-share growth in France and the U.S. with positive incrementality” last year, according to the McDonald’s CEO.

McDonald’s is also bringing the McCrispy to more and more markets. That menu item crossed the threshold to become one of the fast-food giant’s billion-dollar brands in 2023, FOX Business previously reported.

McDonald’s logo on one of its restaurants in Santa Monica, California, on Nov. 13, 2023. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via / Getty Images)

Restaurants in over 70 markets currently sell the McCrispy, with McDonald’s planning to make it available in “nearly all markets” by the end of the year, Kempczinski said.

“We’re excited about the significant opportunity we see within our chicken portfolio and see the potential to add another point of chicken market share by the end of 2026,” he told analysts and investors.

MCDONALD’S TAKES MASSIVE SALES HIT FROM E. COLI OUTBREAK

McDonald’s generated nearly $6.39 billion in total revenue in the fourth quarter. Its quarterly net income, meanwhile, came in at almost $2.02 billion.

For the full year, the fast-food giant’s revenues were $25.92 billion, and its net income was $8.22 billion.

February 11, 2025
McDonald’s takes massive sales hit from E. Coli outbreak

Former McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner analyzes the state of fast food industry as the U.S. economy slows on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

McDonald’s sales took a significant hit in its latest quarter due to an E. coli outbreak linked to slivered onions that killed one person and sent over two dozen to the hospital.

CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts during an earnings call on Monday that sales at U.S. stores slipped 1.4% during the fourth quarter, which was largely attributed to the “impact of the E. coli outbreak linked to slivered onions on our Quarter Pounders.”

The company reported revenue of $6.39 billion, missing Wall Street estimates of $6.44 billion.

Federal health officials declared that the outbreak was “closed” in December, after illnesses emerged in late October. There were 104 confirmed cases of the E. coli O157:H7 strain across 14 states, with hospitalizations climbing to 34. Four victims had developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can cause kidney failure, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). One death was linked to the outbreak early on, the CDC said.

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The raw onions served as a topping on Quarter Pounders were found to be the likely source of the outbreak after beef was ruled out. The agency said it has completed inspections at the Colorado processing plant of Taylor Farms, which supplied recalled onions to McDonald’s, and an unnamed onion farm in Washington state.

A Quarter Pounder hamburger is served at a McDonald’s restaurant. (Scott Olson/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Upon discovery of the outbreak, McDonald’s removed Quarter Pounders from the menu at 900 of its restaurants in the impacted areas and stopped purchasing onions processed at Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility.

Executives said that the company had been seeing “strong sales” during the first few weeks of October before the outbreak emerged.

In the fourth quarter, while there was slightly positive traffic at U.S. stores, the company said customers were spending less. Part of the issue was that its Quarter Pounder was “a high margin” item, according to executives.

Kempczinski said the E. coli impact is now “localized to the areas that had the biggest impact.”

A sign is posted in front of a McDonald’s restaurant on April 28, 2022, in San Leandro, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Think about that as sort of the Rocky Mountain region. That was really the epicenter of the issue. And that continues to be down versus where we were heading into that impact,” he said, adding that the impact is contained to that region.

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The company expects to have fully recovered from the food safety issues by the beginning of the fiscal second quarter.

Following the outbreak, executives said the company invested in “value, affordability and obviously in digital offers to get consumers back” and regain trust.

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MCD MCDONALD’S CORP. 308.59 +14.26 +4.84%

McDonald’s plans to further enhance its value programs in the first quarter “to ensure that we are offering industry leading value and with good value at the foundation.”

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Still, CFO Ian Borden told analysts that its approach to 2025 “reflects the current environment of softer, declining restaurant industry traffic in the U.S. and many of our larger markets.”

February 10, 2025
McDonald’s to roll out Shamrock Shake with help of Uncle O’Grimacey

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McDonald’s is bringing back its popular Shamrock Shake yet again, this time accompanied by the fast-food chain’s Uncle O’Grimacey character.

Participating McDonald’s restaurants across the country will put the limited-time minty, green shake back on their menus Feb. 10, officially kicking off its annual “Shamrock Season,” the company said Tuesday.

The fast-food giant’s 2025 “Shamrock Season” will also mark a family reunion of the McDonald’s characters Grimace and Uncle O’Grimacey after many years.

Grimace and Uncle O’Grimacey hold Shamrock Shakes. (McDonald’s USA)

McDonald’s fans may know Uncle O’Grimacey, who hails from Ireland, from advertisements the company used in the ‘70s and ’80s.

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“Our long-standing tradition of the Shamrock Shake is a testament to the joy we bring to our customers,” McDonald’s executive Michael Gonda said. “This Shamrock Shake Season, with a little extra cheer from the Grimace family, we’re reminded that the most precious gift is being close to those you love.”

McDonald’s Uncle O’Grimacey character (McDonald’s USA)

McDonald’s said it will give 25 cents from the proceeds of each Shamrock Shake between Feb. 10 and March 23 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), a longtime nonprofit that helps the families of sick and injured children with housing and other programs.

The company has a fundraising goal from the seasonal shakes of $5 million for RMHC, which has 255 chapters across the world.

Uncle O’Grimacey is “traveling coast-to-coast, spreading Shamrock cheer with fans everywhere and celebrating RMHC and their mission to keep families together,” McDonald’s said Tuesday.

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The company is also introducing an “Uncle O’Grimacy Merchandise Collection.” Its prices range from $6 for a pair of decals of the character and the Shamrock Shake to $35 for a crewneck sweatshirt.

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MCD MCDONALD’S CORP. 290.05 +1.35 +0.47%

McDonald’s said it will provide an “additional donation” to RMHC “in the spirit of this campaign.”

The Shamrock Shake marked its 50th anniversary in 2020. The treat is the brainchild of a Connecticut McDonald’s owner/operator named Hal Rosen, according to McDonald’s.

The sign for a McDonald’s restaurant on Feb. 9, 2009, in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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Last year, Shamrock Shakes became available at U.S. restaurants on Feb. 5, nearly six weeks before St. Patrick’s Day.

In the U.S., about 13,500 McDonald’s locations are scattered across the country.

February 4, 2025
McDonald’s settles lawsuit challenging company’s Latino scholarship

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McDonald’s opened a longstanding diversity program to all races and ethnicities last week following a lawsuit from a legal group opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.

The lawsuit was filed by American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), an organization dedicated to challenging race-based preferences and discrimination.

AAER argued that the fast-food chain’s HACER National Scholarship Program was discriminatory against non-Hispanic/Latino students as the program required applicants to have at least one parent of Hispanic/Latino heritage.

The settlement last week saw McDonald’s agree to open up the program to applicants of any race or ethnicity.

MCDONALD’S SUED OVER LATINO SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM DAYS AFTER DITCHING SOME DEI POLICIES

McDonald’s is being sued over a program that grants scholarships to Latino high school students. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“We reached the conclusion that settling this lawsuit and evolving the program is the right thing to do for its recipients,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “To achieve this, we will remove the criteria for at least one parent to be of Hispanic/Latino heritage. Instead, applicants must demonstrate their impact and contribution to the Hispanic/Latino community through their activities, leadership, and service.”

According to the settlement, HACER’s “Eligibility & Requirements” page originally stated that applicants “must be from a family” that originated from one of the 22 Hispanic/Latino countries the site listed.

The applicants were also required to answer, “Are you of Hispanic/Latino heritage?”

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In the statement, McDonald’s did not necessarily agree that HACER was discriminatory but did not want the suit to end its longstanding program nor jeopardize opportunities for the applicants to pursue their educational aspirations.

“To be clear: we disagree with this claim,” McDonald’s said. “A legal challenge would mean this year’s applicants would not have the opportunity to compete for the scholarship funds.”

The HACER program, which has awarded 17,000 students more than $33 million in scholarships over nearly 40 years, has received more than 3,000 student applicants this year, McDonald’s said.

The deadline for this year’s application has also been extended from Feb. 6 to March 6 to accommodate the new applicants, according to the suit.

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The suit was first filed on Jan.12 shortly after McDonald’s conducted a civil-rights audit and scaled back on its DEI policies.

Some alterations included McDonald’s ending its DEI pledge for its suppliers and changing the name of its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team. The chain also ended its participation in surveys that could have gauged practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees.

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MCD MCDONALD’S CORP. 288.70 -1.62 -0.56%

Following the rollbacks, AAER claimed McDonald’s was still not treating everyone fairly.

“Even after its civil-rights audit, McDonald’s has decided to continue a program that blatantly discriminates against high-schoolers based on their ethnicity,” the lawsuit stated.

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“It is astonishing that after what McDonald’s describes as a comprehensive civil-rights audit of its programs and policies, the Hispanic-only HACER scholarship was not flagged for likely being a violation of our nation’s civil rights laws,” AAER President Edward Blum said.

According to McDonald’s, the company will continue to work on inclusion.

“McDonald’s position and our commitment to inclusion is steadfast,” the company said. “As part of our ongoing inclusion efforts, our work is evolving.”

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

February 3, 2025