A discovery almost as shocking as learning that Ol' Dependables has Alzheimer's
/McDonald's will stop selling 'healthy' menu items due to lack of sales
Who knew? People hitting a burger joint for beef, milkshakes and greasy French fries aren’t particularly interested in buying a salad or a plant patty.
McDonald's USA president Joe Erlinger has now made it clear that salads will not be making a comeback as consumers aren't fussed.
One thing that won't be returning to U.S. restaurants nationally is salads. The demand just isn't there,' Erlinger told the Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum in Chicago on Wednesday.
'They're looking for great french fries, they're looking for a $5 meal deal, they're looking for a hot, fresh sandwich, and so that's what we're going to continue to provide them' he explained of McDonald's customers.
'Almost 90 percent of the U.S. population has McDonald's one time a year,' Erlinger explained to the summit.
'Because we serve 90 percent of the U.S. population, we really need to stay true to who we are and view our business as an opportunity to drive greater frequency and serve more needs of customers, not necessarily figure out how to serve that last 10 percent or so.'
… [I]f people really want salads from McDonald's, we will gladly relaunch salads. But what our experience has proven is, that's not what the consumer is looking for from McDonald's.'
At the same time as he said the chain was ditching salads, Erlinger said that McDonald's had given up on its bid to sell meat-free beef burgers in America.
He said the McPlant has been ditched because customers did not want fake meat.
The chain had been testing the McPlant at several hundred restaurants in California and Texas since trials began in late 2021.
At least they’ve killed the chemical patty after just three years — it took them twenty to figure out what any child could have told them in the first place: vegetables don’t belong in a Happy Meal.