Don’t expect McDonald’s to rest on its burgers.
Disappointing sales have led the fast food giant to begin testing new menu items, including three new varieties of its prized Quarter Pounders.
The new burgers in development include a Habanero Ranch Quarter Pounder, with white cheddar, hickory-smoked bacon and a new habanero-ranch sauce; a Deluxe Quarter Pounder, with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle, mayonnaise and mustard; and a Bacon and Cheese Quarter Pounder, with American cheese, bacon, red onion, pickle, mustard and ketchup.
McDonald’s posted its first monthly sales drop in nine years earlier this month, amid a loss of customers to rival chains such as Burger King. McDonald's global same-store sales fell 2.2 per cent in October.
Soon after that sales drop made headlines, McDonald’s announced plans to replace its U.S. president, Jan Fields, who has been with the company for more than 35 years and who drove the expansion of its popular McCafe drink menu.
Fields will be replaced by Jeff Stratton, McDonald’s global chief restaurant officer effective December 1, the company said.
‘We feel that now was the right time to make a change in leadership for the U.S. business,’ company spokeswoman Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem said on November 15.
McDonald’s chief executive, Don Thompson, recently told investors that slow growth and increased competition in the United States would be a ‘new normal’ for the brand, requiring a greater emphasis on less expensive menu items.
Several factors are impacting McDonald's declining sales, including the undercooked U.S. economy and high unemployment among younger consumers who tend to favor fast food.
Other fast food chains, including Wendy’s and Yum! Brands, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut, have been suffering similar fates.
McDonald’s operates or franchises more than 34,000 restaurants worldwide, including more than 14,000 in the United States.
