(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) McDonald’s has decided to re-brand its signature sandwich, the Big Mac, as the company—long a symbol of American consumerism—attempts to emphasize quality over factors such as size, cost and speed that have frequently been its hallmarks, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to Chris Young, McDonald’s senior director of global menu strategy, the Big Mac as it stands now is a mass-produced mediocrity.
In order to address slipping standards, the company will revert to some old practices that it used before efficiency became its only aim.
“We can do it quick, fast and safe, but it doesn’t necessarily taste great. So, we want to incorporate quality into where we’re at,” he said.
According to one of McDonalds’s head chefs, Chad Schafer, the chain needs to revamp its product in order to keep people coming back.
Yet, he said, the improvements can come about by way of a few simple changes, like improving the bun texture and cooking the patties with onions to help them retain moisture.
“One is hotter,” Schafer said, referring to the burgers cooked the old-fashioned way. “It looks meltier. Look at how my fingers sink into the bun. Smell it and you smell a big difference.”
By contrast, the current burger didn’t pass the smell test—nor any other metric Schafer evaluated.
“This one, it’s kind of dry. It cracks,” he said. “And this is the best-case example at headquarters.”
Still, the company is growing at a dominant pace. Sales in the United States increased by over 10% in 2022.
The changes that are coming to America have already seen a test-run in Australia. They will be introduced at 13,460 U.S. locations in 2024, beginning on the West Coast this winter and moving to the Midwest by summer.
The new cooking style led to all-time high sales in Australia, according to McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski, who noted that he wanted the “great-tasting burger perceptions” to “continue to grow.”
