Is 'Deep Value' Done in QSR? What McDonald's New Menu Focus Reveals About What's Next

McDonald’s, while fending off AI pricing debates, is gearing up for wide-ranging changes across its business, and spending billions to get there. Among them, what CEO Chris Kempczinski called “the biggest upgrade to the taste and quality of our menu in McDonald’s history.”

Perhaps buried somewhat under McDonald’s $8.5 billion headline of investor day, it’s a shift the company expects to drive 1.5 share points of gain in chicken and beverages while maintaining its standing in beef.

“Menu > NEXT” (Restaurant > Next; Consumer > NEXT; and People > NEXT are the other buckets of this strategy for McDonald’s) is, at its simplest, a definition designed to create more reasons for customers to choose the brand, Kempczinski said—a pulsing task considering McDonald’s expects industry traffic to run flat medium-term.

Domestic same-store sales inched 0.8 percent in Q2 and comps were slightly negative in April and slipped red in July as well. McDonald’s blamed its new everyday affordability platform and how it failed to produce traffic. Stores struggled under a crowded deployment calendar, too, and marketing didn’t break through.

This all collided with a wary restaurant guest, especially at the lower-income level, while McDonald’s pulled back offers prioritized by some of its most frequent users.

Plainly, McDonald’s is hardly done waging battle on the guest count front.

Shift away from deep value

Peter Saleh, U.S. Bancorp, BTIG managing director and restaurants and food distributors analyst, believes what you saw at McDonald’s over the summer represents, as is often the case with the top-earning restaurant enterprise in the world, a harbinger of things to come.

He feels Q3 (McDonald’s reports on November 4) marked a seismic, yet subtle change across the lexicon when it comes to tone. Namely, brands are pulling away from “deep value messaging.”

“While we don’t expect any of the quick-service operators to abandon value, we think the deep value war is over,” Saleh said. “And all have lost.”

McDonald’s this past period lightened value advertising after its aforementioned issues with a 10 items for under $3 summer platform. Burger King, Saleh added, pivoted from aggressive price point ads to a quality message as well (Whopper and new chicken nuggets) while Wendy’s highlighted fresh beef with a “Fresh, Never Frozen” campaign. Subway has begun pushing a “Eat Fresh” message, too.

“Absent in these ads is a price point or deep value offering,” Saleh said, “which is a significant pivot in message and tacit admission, in our view, that deep value offerings have failed to drive traffic gains.”

He continued it’s “no secret that McDonald’s fumbled the rollout of the 10 items for under $3 platform.” About a third of franchisees didn’t execute the value platform to plan, Saleh noted.

“This led corporate to terminate the national advertising for this deep value program,” he said.

“Looking ahead, we expect more brands to moderate their deep discounts as this strategy has not resulted in incremental traffic, but rather weaker margins and substantially lower stock prices,” Saleh added. “We are optimistic that fewer, less frequent deep discounts will result in higher margins as the prior strategy degraded margins with little to no offsetting traffic gains.”

Menu upgrades and growth

Future-proofing McDonald’s menu backs the track

At McDonald’s investor day a month ago, there was little to no mention of value, Saleh said. Instead, McDonald’s focused on the “Gold Standard” across its offerings and how it fits into two ascending trends: protein and GLP-1s (often intertwined).

Jill McDonald’s, EVP and global chief restaurant officer, told investors, since 2020, McDonald’s focus on its $17 billion equities helped grow sales of its core menu by more than 50 percent to nearly $90 billion.

During COVID, the company discontinued all-day breakfast, phased out salads, dropped grilled chicken, removed buttermilk crispy chicken tenders, initially cut some early day items like bagels (some markets brought them back later) and yogurt parfaits, and had other slim-downs that fluctuated.

Most McDonald’s business today resides in beef, chicken, and beverages. McDonald said the brand is the global leader by a “wide margin” in the former, with more than 40 percent share across a $50 billion category growing roughly 3 percent a year.

Chicken, though, is a nearly $130 billion field scaling 5 percent. McDonald’s holds a high-teens market share and is the segment fronter in “most of our largest markets,” McDonald said.

And beverage represents a nearly $230 billion swatch growing faster than the overall informal eating out market. McDonald’s plays in the high-single digits. The company is the second-largest global coffee player.

“One category where we’ve led for decades. Two where we don’t yet have our fair share,” McDonald said. “All three are growing.”

How can the chain capture more growth? It won’t be complicated. McDonald said “taste” and “quality” are two of the top three drivers of customer choice. And when perceptions improve, share follows.

For instance, a 5-point increase in guest perception of chicken translates to more than half a point of share gain.

A little more than a year ago, McDonald’s placed specialized category teams behind beverages, chicken, and beef. A goal being for dedicated roles to own insights, menu, operations, supply chain, and marketing behind a single objective: grow a segment, like chicken, by being the first choice for more diners.

Two plans, McDonald added, run through each. One is “Gold Standard” execution, as noted, to elevate the equities McDonald’s already owns and guests recognize. Then, menu innovation adds new occasions, choices, and more reasons to visit.

Focusing on chicken, it’s the fastest-growing category in IEO (the “informal eating out” moniker mentioned earlier that covers any QSR experience/not receiving table service).

McDonald said the brand expects to leverage staples as growth platforms. Chicken McNuggets account for nearly $15 billion in annual systemwide sales. McCrispy represents more than $2.5 billion. McChicken, close to $4 billion.

Making that $30 billion global chicken business “even bigger,” McDonald said, starts with what the company learned over decades of servings. This includes small updates such as optimizing cook times, calibrating fryer settings, and adjusting oil volumes. “Changes,” she said, “that when applied across our scale, have a significant impact.”

McDonald’s began deploying “Gold Standard” chicken across its top six markets, with plans to complete in 2027.

Next, the chain will expand its strongest platforms. Chicken McNuggets, as large as the product is and with all its legacy backing it, has hiked about 40 percent over the last five years.

McDonald said more flavors, sauces, product extensions, and cultural activations are ahead.

Thirdly, McDonald’s innovation calendar will bring the brand into more categories. There will be fresh options of McCrispy. The brand will scale the McCrispy strips launched last May, which marked the first time since 2021 (around those earlier mentioned cuts) the chain released a permanent menu item in the U.S.

That new recipe, deployed today domestically, will grow to new markets, too.

Additionally, McDonald’s will extend its McWings platform and (re)introduce grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps “to meet growing demand for high-protein options,” McDonald said.

Another pending flip is hand breading, which McDonald explained as a “significant opportunity to upgrade taste and quality.” The brand has done so across 10,000 Asia restaurants. And in China and Malaysia, it’s now the market leader for “great-tasting chicken,” McDonald said, and continues to grow sales and share.

Learnings from international developmental licensed markets informed an operational pilot of a hand-breaded chicken portfolio through a handful of Chicagoland restaurants.

McDonald said stores witnessed double-digit increases in chicken taste and quality scores.

That effort is headed to more tests next year in the U.S. and Ireland supported with advertising.

“Together, these efforts will drive more first-choice occasions, guest counts, and drive about 1.5 points of share growth in chicken by 2023,” McDonald said.

Beverage growth opportunities

The beverage topic

McDonald referred to beverages as “one of the most attractive demand spaces” in QSR. Going back a few years, McDonald’s saw increasing attention through the rising subcategories of cold coffee, refreshers, crafted sodas, and energy.

It’s partly what led to the brick-and-mortar blast of CosMc’s, which since shuttered but was built to gather intel and, ultimately, carry observations inside traditional stores.

Alongside CosMc’s, the “rigor of advertised sales tests, and deployments in new beverage spaces live now across nearly 18,000 restaurants,” McDonald said, the brand built, validated, and scaled a multiyear growth platform that simply wasn’t there not that long ago.

“Beverages are no longer just an add-on,” she said, “but a reason to visit.”

More than half of McDonald’s beverage-led visits emerge after lunch, opening an incremental occasion during a time of day where stores are less busy.

Average check is roughly 50 percent higher as well, McDonald said, because customers are pairing fries or a burger with drinks (one of the early CosMc’s reactions was guests wanted McDonald’s classics with new beverages).

McDonald added units see high repurchase intent and improved overall perception thanks to a lineup of options delivered at value and speed.

It’s been able to sustain volumes, in part, thanks to diners exploring variety. Case in action: for loyalty members who purchased a specialty drink in the first six weeks of launch, nearly half returned for one from a different subcategory by the 12th week across all markets.

“And it’s high margin, and it’s coupled with low complexity, which our restaurant teams have embraced,” McDonald said.

Importantly as well, drinks over-index with Gen Z.

Regarding how the brand will evolve trial and buzz into something lasting, McDonald said new flavors and recipes are coming. So is deeper scale, including most European markets in the first half of 2027, and expansion across IDLM areas throughout 2027.

McDonald’s isn’t skirting coffee, either. “Gold Standard” coffee, akin to what’s happening with chicken, will surround the 8 million cups it serves each day, McDonald said.

New espresso machines in the U.S. will offer guests more personalization, like alternative milk choices. The program expects to hit “most” IOM markets by year’s end and stretch through China, the U.S., and beyond, in 2027.

McDonald’s sees 1.5 points of beverage share being grabbed by 2030.

Beef and protein strategy

On beef

McDonald’s today touts four separate billion-dollar beef assets: The Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, McDouble, and Big Tasty. The next equity, McDonald said, will be “Big Arch.”

The opportunity lies in turning these icons into larger growth engines and extending strength into “large burgers,” which is the fastest-growing subcategory.

“Gold Standard” beef builds on McDonald’s prior “Best Burger” initiative that drove a 1–2 percent sales lift in the U.S. within six months. “We’re now making great execution easier and more consistent across the system with updated procedures and a new dedicated training program starting in 2027,” McDonald said.

Like it has stateside, the company is exploring fresh beef quarter-pound patties and hot-off-the-grill preparation in more markets. It’s also looking to add choice in beef for customers seeking portion flexibility. For example, a Burger Bowl.

Lastly, McDonald’s plans to leverage the potential of its $5.5 billion Quarter Pounder equity as its spreads into large burgers with Big Arch and Double Quarter Pounders.

The Quarter Pounder, McDonald said, outperforms U.S. competitors on value for money and repurchase intent. In Australia, the brand put the Quarter Pounder at the center of innovation and marketing and saw the item contribute more than 5 percent of sales during launch. That significantly beat past beef LTOs, which were closer to 1 percent.

“We’ve seen the strongest results when we invest consistently behind Quarter Pounder through taste and quality, relevant innovation and sustained marketing support,” McDonald said. “We plan to share a broader pantry of QPC innovations across markets, along with greater freedom to develop locally relevant flavor and variety extensions.”

She added, as customers move from a single to a double, QPC strengthens average spend and creates a pathway into larger options. Look for Double QPC innovation and more recipes to extend the Big Arch platform. The latter delivered sales lifts and high guest counts where released.

And the larger picture

Skye Anderson, appointed president of McDonald’s USA in August after 26-plus years with the company, said during investor day she often returns to two straightforward questions: How does this serve our customers better? And how does this help our restaurants win.”

Naturally, food plays a lead role in the why for McDonald’s. But that doesn’t mean it’s always gotten it right.

“And while there’s so much our customers love, we are falling short when it comes to consistent execution,” she said. “We’re tackling that challenge head on.”

For McDonald’s, this means more active conversations with operators, suppliers, and employees on what’s working, what isn’t, as well as dedicated taste and quality training. Anderson added the company wants to remove distractions at the store level so employees can execute.

At the same time, there’s going to be greater emphasis placed behind the care and preparation of McDonald’s food itself through marketing. “Our ambition is to strengthen the core reasons customers choose McDonald’s in the first place and build the kind of sustainable baseline growth that creates long-term value. And that’s an approach we’ll take with new innovation to future-proof our menu,” she said.

Anderson explained McDonald’s has closely monitored adoptions, behavior shifts, and menu preferences, including the rise of GLP-1 medications. In the U.S., she said, about 10 percent of adults use some form of it. And of those households with users, 84 percent visit McDonald’s.

Anderson repeated that point to investors, calling it “an opportunity” where McDonald’s doesn’t necessarily need to win over a new base of customer.

“Instead, we need to keep giving them more reasons to make McDonald’s their first choice as their eating habits evolve,” she said. “They want more protein, greater portion flexibility, and food that leaves them feeling satisfied without feeling like too much.”

McDonald’s menu, inherently, offers built-in choice, whether its portion, protein, or formats. Households with GLP-1 users increasingly tap Chicken McNuggets, Filet-O-Fish, and Happy Meals.

A recent survey of 1,000 GLP-1 users from Saleh’s BTIG, indicated 51 percent identified as lower-income (less than $50,000 per year)—a significantly higher result than 3 percent from September 2025, but consistent with tallies from March. Saleh also found 35 percent of respondents were below 35 years of age and 64 percent 45 or younger. Middle-age users (35–64) remained at 60 percent over the past year, while under-35 expanded (26 to 35 percent) at the expense of 65-plus (14 to 5 percent).

These results, he said, suggest, despite the high initial cost, availability is not limited to middle-age and higher-income consumers, but has expanded over the past year to a wider portion of the U.S. population.

That, for McDonald’s, tends to be a good indicator of usage.

And it’s a trend extending beyond GLP-1s. While there are roughly 30 million U.S. GLP-1 users, Anderson said, there are 60 million or so Americans actively seeking more protein in their diet.

McDonald’s has a strong right to win protein-led categories, she said, such as grilled chicken, chicken bowls, protein-forward breakfast, and snack wraps.

The brand’s approach is balanced, taste-led protein-forward innovation with disciplined deployment. “All calibrated to minimize complexity in our restaurants,” Anderson said.

“We already have the protein credentials, portion flexibility, and scale to set us up to win as tastes change,” she added. “Now, we’re building on those advantages to create more reasons to visit McDonald’s more often.”

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