McDonald’s has confirmed that it will not be selling any items from its healthy menu because there is simply a lack of demand.
The fast-food chain removed salads from its menus during the pandemic to streamline and speed up its service, but also to adapt to a disrupted supply chain.
McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger has made it clear that salads won’t come back into fashion because consumers aren’t that interested in them.
“One thing that’s not coming back to American restaurants nationwide is salads. The demand just isn’t there,” Erlinger told the Wall Street Journal’s World Food Forum in Chicago on Wednesday.
“They’re looking for great fries, they’re looking for a $5 meal deal, they’re looking for a hot, fresh sandwich, and that’s what we’re going to continue to offer them,” he said of McDonald’s customers.
The fast food chain removed salads from its menus during the pandemic
Salads were first introduced to the McDonald’s menu in 2000, when the McSalad Shaker debuted with a major advertising campaign.
Green salads were served in a tall glass with dressing, but consumers did not consider them as substantial, so they were replaced by Premium salads in 2003.
These new salads offered larger portions that included grilled chicken, toppings, and Newman’s Own dressing.
“Nearly 90 percent of the American population goes to McDonald’s once a year,” Erlinger explained at the summit.
“Since we serve 90 percent of the U.S. population, we really have to stay true to who we are and view our business as an opportunity to drive more frequency and serve more customer needs, not necessarily figure out how to serve that last 10 percent or so.”
“Our founder said in 1970, ‘I don’t know what people are going to eat in the year 2000, but we’re going to serve more than anyone else,'” the CEO said.
He added: “If people really want McDonald’s salads, we’ll be happy to bring them back. But our experience has shown that that’s not what consumers are looking for at McDonald’s.”
Salads were first introduced to the McDonald’s menu in 2000 with the McSalad Shaker.
At the same time he said the chain was ditching salads, Erlinger said McDonald’s had given up on its attempt to sell meatless burgers in the United States.
He said the McPlant was abandoned because customers didn’t want fake meat.
The chain had been testing the McPlant at several hundred restaurants in California and Texas since testing began in late 2021.
Developed with Beyond Meat, it was made from pea and rice proteins.
Although it was a failure in the United States, it was a success in the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland and Portugal.
McDonald’s is now shifting its focus to chicken, which has become more popular with its customers than beef, in part because of its lower cost.
