TL;DR
Major food franchises like McDonald's and KFC are launching specialized beverage menus to capture a share of the $100 billion category dominated by Starbucks. McDonald's, KFC, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and Burger King are introducing crafted drinks with boba and cold foam to lure customers away from Starbucks and Dutch Bros.
McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Wendy’s and Burger King are launching crafted drinks with boba and cold foam to cash in on the trend.
Would you like a boba with that Big Mac? That’s what McDonald’s and other food franchises are betting on as they ramp up new beverage strategies.
McDonald’s is launching six crafted beverages on May 6, including a dirty Dr. Pepper with vanilla and cold foam. It’s joining KFC, Taco Bell, Wendy’s and Burger King in a race to capture the $100 billion beverage category. The goal: lure customers away from Starbucks and Dutch Bros with drinks featuring popular offerings such as boba, dragon fruit and foam toppings.
McDonald’s is adding “beverage specialist” roles at 14,000 U.S. locations, with dedicated counter spaces focused exclusively on crafted drinks. KFC’s Kwench menu is rolling out to 3,000 stores. Taco Bell launched Live Mas Café with “Bellristas” making churro milkshakes. McDonald’s tried this with CosMc’s, but closed eight stores last spring because drinks were too complex.
In this story
This story was originally published by Jonathan Small in Entrepreneur Franchise on April 30, 2026. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
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