McDonald’s rolls out Red Bull energy drinks

The addition could help boost traffic, particularly during the afternoon daypart.

• McDonald’s will expand its McCafé beverage platform on Aug. 17 with the addition of a Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer , the company said Tuesday. The drink combines Red Bull with blue raspberry syrup and freeze-dried dragonfruit inclusions, the press release said.

• The company also will enhance its crafted soda lineup by adding reduced sugar options for drinks featuring Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper Zero Sugar and Sprite Zero Sugar.

• McDonald’s originally added crafted sodas and refreshers to its McCafé platform in May, and the Red Bull energizer is the chain's entry into energy drinks. The beverage menu has helped improve McDonald’s food quality and taste, core tenets of its NEXT plan, CEO Chris Kempczinski said during an August earnings call .

So far, McDonald's beverage platform has exceeded expectations in the U.S., Canada and Germany — lead markets for the products. Kempczinski added that U.S. sales are “ahead of the plan.”

“Guest checks are higher, and we're seeing new occasions emerge throughout the day,” he said. “We've also seen strong food attachment rates on these orders.”

More than half of traffic for the new beverage platform is coming after lunch, CFO Ian Borden said, making it “compelling for us because it's at parts of the day where we have lower volume, more capacity.”

The new drink options could also help offset a decline in U.S. consumer traffic seen during the second quarter. Kempczinski said the chain experienced trouble with execution related to various menu deployments during the quarter, which led to increased ticket times and lowered customer satisfaction.

The chain reported a same-store sales increase of 0.8% during the quarter, compared to 3.9% during the first quarter.