McDonald's is ending its plant-based experiment due to lagging sales. At the same time, it is promoting the eventual return of popularity McRib sandwich and focusing on its growing chicken segment.
In 2021, McDonald's in partnership with plant-based food manufacturers Beyond the meat To create McPlanta plant-based meat alternative made from ingredients such as potatoes, peas and rice.
“I asked the team to test McPlant in two very different markets, and so they chose San Francisco and Dallas,” Joe Erlinger, McDonald's the president of the usa said in an interview with Wall Street Journal last month. “It wasn't successful in any market, so I don't think the American consumer is coming to McDonald's or looking for McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald's.”
The return of the McRib
As McDonald's ditches its plant-based burger, it will also bring back a cult favorite — the McRib sandwich.
“It's coming later this year,” Erlinger told Today when asked about the McRib, “he'll be back.”
Since its debut in the early 1980s, the McRib has sporadically returned as a seasonal offering. McDonald's has discontinued the McRib several times — and even launched one Farewell McRib Tour in 2022 — but has never taken the fan favorite off its menu for good. The sandwich has a passionate fan base – you can even use it McRib Locator to find McDonald's that sell the McRib worldwide.
McChicken: As big as burgers
McDonald's recently said it does as much money as possible from chicken products — such as McNuggets and McCrispy sandwiches — to beef burgers, which represent about $25 billion in annual sales.
“Of course,” Erlinger told him WSJ“The biggest trend around protein consumption is really around chicken, and we think we're poised to serve that trend well, and that's where we're making the investment.”
