McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc once said he didn’t know what the company would sell in the future. He just knew McDonald’s would sell more of it than anyone else.
That’s how the fast-food giant is approaching the growing chicken category, according to Marcelo Fajnerman, U.S. VP of menu strategy. It’s the number one protein domestically and in many countries across the world, and McDonald’s is fully committed to satisfying that demand.
It rolled out Spicy McNuggets in 2020, marking the first time it had launched a new chicken nugget flavor in the U.S. since 1983. Two years later, the company revamped its chicken sandwich platform with the McCrispy Chicken Sandwich. In October 2023, McDonald’s said the sandwich is a $1 billion brand across several markets.
The latest innovation is the Chicken Big Mac—released in the U.S. on Thursday for a limited time—which features the same toppings but with two tempura-battered chicken patties and no onions.
“What we have here is a unique opportunity because many people can do chicken products. Many people can do a chicken sandwich, but only McDonald’s can do a Chicken Big Mac,” Fajnerman says.
The chicken patties are made similarly to the McNuggets. As Fajnerman explains, McDonald’s wanted to bring forward what people love about the Big Mac. So it needed to find the right chicken to deliver the sauce’s creamy, tangy flavor and the entire build. The culinary team looked at the current chicken filets and decided they were not the ideal balance. However, the tempura batter provides a cleaner chicken flavor that allows the Big Mac to take center stage.
“So we went out and said, ‘OK, how do we deliver a great-tasting sandwich?’ And we went through different iterations, we developed different products and this chicken tempura batter that has the same coating as Chicken McNuggets do … it allows you to deepen your favorite sauce. The idea is that it brings the love of chicken and allows the Big Mac to shine,” Fajnerman says.
Wayne Kuhl, a senior manager on McDonald’s U.S. menu team, says the company has learned over the past two years the importance of delivering bolder flavors. With chicken rising in popularity and the Big Mac’s strong equity with customers, the combo seemed like the right fit to give guests what they’ve been asking for.
Consumers aren’t into the neutral flavor profiles anymore, Kuhl says. The familiar favorites are always going to be there. They now want menu items that have impact.
“What we learned through our Big Mac consumers in relation to the Big Mac equity was that they wanted more Mac Sauce,” says Kuhl, explaining what he means by “bolder flavor.” “So you’re going to see that on here as well. Same Mac Sauce. The same amount as the Big Mac.”
The sandwich has already been released in the U.K., Australia, and Canada. Also, it was tested in the U.S. in 2022 in roughly 50 restaurants in the Miami market. So naturally, many have been asking when it will hit restaurants nationwide.
The answer is that McDonald’s U.S. is home to over 13,000 restaurants. With that scale, pushing menu innovation can take time.
“We really do our due diligence to make sure that we’re bringing forward the product that our customers are asking for and really following the research,” Kuhl says. “And then also just in terms of our scale, to fulfill orders for [13,000] some-odd restaurants, it takes a bit of time to get those production lines up and going and then also fill the supply chain.”
When the Chicken Big Mac came to the U.K., it sold out in 10 days. CEO Chris Kempciznski said it was the market’s “most successful food promotion ever.”
McDonald’s, however, doesn’t want that to happen with the U.S. release. And it’s prepared for it.
“The most important thing is that we can celebrate this with our fans and we can serve all customers that want to try this,” Fajnerman says. “We learn. We have the benefit of being a large organization that can learn from other markets. So we took a lot of learnings from the U.K., Canada, Australia, and in different places. So we work with our suppliers to be sure that we can have enough production capabilities, with our operators to be sure that our restaurants are ready to serve those customers. So we feel very confident on where we are because again, we want to celebrate this with all our customers.”
Fajnerman isn’t sure how likely it is that the Chicken Big Mac will become a permanent menu item. Right now the brand is just concentrated on celebrating the innovation.
But there’s always a chance.
“Maybe it earns its right to be here,” he says.
