Can McDonald's Finally Make a Premium Burger Work?

Fast food chains these days are trying to increase their revenues by appealing to new audiences. An example of one of this, is Wendy's advertisement of "never frozen" patties. Mcdonalds on the other hand, has tried to release and garner success with premium burgers for quite some time. As the article states;


Premium burger options have had little success at McDonald's. The company has tried a number of options from the Arch Deluxe to Sirloin Burgers that it eventually discontinued.

These new burgers that Mcdonalds is planning to roll out, look like this;

and as mentioned in the article, the burgers above contain and are priced as following;

Maple Bacon Dijon (grilled onions, thick-cut bacon and Dijon sauce); Sweet BBQ Bacon (barbecue sauce, bacon and crispy onions) and Pico Guacamole (avocado, pico de gallo and buttermilk ranch sauce.) All come with white cheddar cheese. The topping options are available on a burger patty or grilled or crispy chicken. The new line, which rolls out nationwide this week, costs around $5.

Personally, they look pretty good and $5 really isn't what I consider "premium" burger prices. Even though I know Mcdonalds is unhealthy, once in a while won't hurt (until once in a while means 3 times a day).

What do you all think, would you try these?
Also will this help Mcdonalds earn more revenue, or will this crash and burn as past ventures into premium burgers have before.

 

The problem isn't the burger, it's a barely breathing primate serving it. The food is shit, but it's made worse by people not giving a shit. CFA is selling fried chicken on a bun, but service is done well and the kids care.

And McDonalds menu is stale. BK and Taco Bell come out with all kinds of new shit. What does MCD do? Rotate the nasty mcrib?

 

I agree with you in the people not giving a shit. I can't count how many times the person on drive-thru was rude or flat out "forgot" to give me parts of my order. It might just be the Mcdonalds i'm going to, but that's just my experience. The burgers are what you expect a cheap fast food burger to be. Lastly, you're right about Mcdonalds not doing anything "creative". The most exciting thing they've done is add bacon to the big mac and blast it as it's the Iphone of the burger world.

Just an Undergrad trying to get a job. Something you disagree or dislike about my posts? Let me know by PM'ing me or commenting constructive criticism.
 

When you say CFA, you're not talking about Chartered Financial Analyst? I'm ignorant of what "CFA" you are referring to.

Just an Undergrad trying to get a job. Something you disagree or dislike about my posts? Let me know by PM'ing me or commenting constructive criticism.
 

As someone who's originally from Asia, I wonder why McDonald's here is just so inferior to that of Asia (China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, etc.). You all need to look it up and see what you're missing out on, but again the value proposition is different and the East generally demands more creativity in advertising and products. The West's McDonald's just don't give a shit.

 

This couldn't be truer. I've had far better experiences eating at McDonald's around the world - Tokyo, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, etc. and all of them tasted really good compared to what the others put out here. Even the burgers in Delhi were good enough - in fact one of the few omnipresent food choices in India. I haven't had the American McDs but I've tried the ones in the UK and they were OK, though a bit less spicy for my taste. And it's not just McD but KFC and BK too.

As for customer service, they usually behave good enough that I feel sorry for those guys making minimum wage. I guess poor customer service is just an American thing.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 
Best Response

They're also demonstrating a remarkable ignorance about what makes a good burger good....and the reason why they can't serve a true "premium" burger is the same one they've been successful so far.

To make a good burger, you need to find good meat and good meat was treated well before it became meat. Doing so is somewhat more expensive which would drive McDonald's out of the budget market or force them to double the complexity of their supply chain(with exponential effects).....all in an attempt to capture an audience that probably isn't going to go to McDonald's anyway when looking for a good burger.

Let's face it. When it comes to a "premium" burger they simply aren't equipped either operationally or marketing wise to compete with national chains like Five Guys or regional chains like Lark Burger (which I HIGHLY recommend visiting if you're ever in Denver) that market themselves as based on quality and have a supply chain to back up that branding.

 

Agree with a lot of this, although one thing - the McDonalds supply chain isn't far off being one of the modern wonders of the world, it's insanely complex and very well executed. It's just a shame the amount of processing the beef, and to a lesser extent the chicken, goes through - to the point where it stops resembling anything like its source..

In the UK McD is way better than KFC and BK, but given the choice I'd always prefer one of the smaller more gourmet chains (Honest/Patty & Bun etc.) and eat in rather than go for fast food.

 

I don't understand McDonald's obsession with trying to compete in terms of quality. No one eats at mcdonalds for quality food. They like it because it's fast and cheap.

I would never order a $5 burger from McDonald's. There are too many higher quality alternatives

 

McDonald's worker making minimum wage, faking an account on WSO, spotted.^^

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

What does faking an account on WSO even mean? As opposed to ... a real account? Oh did you want me to have my real name as my username like you do, Mr. Quattrone.

And what is your problem with minimum wage?

 

I simply see no reason to go to McDonald's anymore. If I want a burger, I'm willing to go to Five Guys, Smashburger, Umami Burger, Shake Shake, In-N-Out (depending on where I am), etc. and I'll be fine paying a few extra bucks for something I'll actually be satisfied with.

 

I walk through a food court by my work sometimes and there's a McDonald's, Sbarrom Subway, Wendy's, Panda Express, a cajun spot, a sushi spot, an awesome salad bar spot, and a few more... and McDonald's still has a line every time. I have no idea why people choose it over literally anything else. It's not even that inexpensive.

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

Many people incorrectly assume McDs is uniform in product and consumer demographics around the world.
In reality it's very different.

For ex, in the Scandanavian countries, MCD is not a "lower class" destination. You'd have a hard time spending less than $25USD for a meal. And dollar menu items here don't exist there. It's all premium chicken burgers starting from around $10USD. Compare that to the $1-2 fake meat burgers in the US. Not to mention the coffee / latte in European McDs is really good, on par with Starbucks (prices are similar as well).

 

I've noticed this when I traveled to Poland a few years back. I think it just has to do with the regulations on meat quality and what people in the specific regions demand. Europeans want good quality and aren't too afraid to shell out more $ for it. While Americans know Mcdonalds for it's cheap and quick style.

Just an Undergrad trying to get a job. Something you disagree or dislike about my posts? Let me know by PM'ing me or commenting constructive criticism.
 

Where in Poland did you go? My parents are Polish and I used to visit every summer growing up, I don't remember it being particularly all that great, although the menu items for some reason looked a bit better.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned MCD's breakfast offerings, and finally that they offer it 24/7. That I think is one of their real selling points.

In their most mature US market, their position is so ingrained in the mind of America that I believe there's almost no hope in them even pretending to be a "premium burger" place. They should though use their cash to solidify that position abroad in growing markets, like Europe as MonacoMonkey pointed out. Go to a MCD in Greece even and you'll be surprised how nice it looks.

One of their competitive points was the franchise system in that some well known menu offerings like the McFish (not that I'd ever get it) were created by franchise managers who were more in tune with the local clientele.

Accordingly, I feel like the only real thing they can do is focus on operational efficiency and a return to the dollar menu, not this $2 bullshit. Yes, it's frustrating that most of their staff is scary, but how many places are open 24/7 when you need a quick bite on the highway in the middle of the night?

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

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