A former McDonald’s corporate chef has revealed the real reason why the fast food giant’s salads cost more than its burgers.
Based in Illinois Mike Haraczwho worked at the company until 2019, took to TikTok to reveal secrets about the fast food chain’s salads, which were discontinued in 2020.
He explained that leafy greens, which cost about five dollars or more depending on the ingredients you chose, were more expensive than McDonald’s burgers, which averaged about two dollars, because “salad doesn’t last long.”
In a viral video, which has so far racked up more than 23,000 views, Mike detailed why burgers typically cost much less than salads at fast food restaurants.
A former McDonald’s corporate chef has revealed the real reason why the fast food giant’s salads cost more than its burgers.
Illinois-based Mike Haracz, who worked at the company until 2019, took to TikTok to reveal secrets about the fast-food chain’s salads, which were discontinued in 2020.
Mike was responding to a comment from a social media user who questioned why salads ‘are $9 and a cooked beef burger is $1.59.’
He captioned the video: “Former McDonald’s corporate chef talks about why salad is so expensive.”
Mike was responding to a comment from a social media user asking why salads “are $9 and a cooked beef burger is $1.59.”
“The main reason is that salad doesn’t last very long and by salad we’re talking about iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, leafy greens and things like that,” he explained.
Chef Mike pointed out that meat could be preserved by freezing it, but the shelf life of lettuce could not be extended.
“You can freeze meat, you can refrigerate meat to prolong its shelf life,” he said, also citing the fragility of lettuce.
‘The same trucks that transport beef also transport lettuce. You can’t make it worse. You can’t crush it. You have to be very gentle with it, or it will get bruised and people won’t buy it,” he said.
The former McDonald’s chef noted that consumers wouldn’t buy lettuce unless it was absolutely perfect, meaning it was much more expensive to preserve and sell.
‘If it looks weird, even though it’s perfectly fine to eat, people just don’t want to buy it.[But with ground meat]’You can use a variety of different portions of the animal that are ground up so you don’t know what it looks like, you can mix up fat content and things of that nature,’ he explained.
Chef Mike pointed out that meat can be preserved by freezing it, but you can’t extend the shelf life of lettuce.
Fast food lovers flooded the comments section and expressed surprise at why the chain had charged so much more.
Fast food lovers flooded the comments section and expressed surprise at why the chain had charged so much more.
One person said: ‘We can shorten supply chains. Vertical farms closer to the point of use will extend the life of the greens.’
Someone else added: ‘Yes, but have lettuce on hand for sandwiches. So why does that matter?
Another user commented: ‘I knew it.’
“Makes a lot of sense,” chimed in a fourth.
McDonald’s ditched its salads in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic after the fast food chain reassessed its menu.
Because the salad was more expensive and the restaurant wanted to streamline its drive-thru operations, McDonald’s said goodbye to leafy greens.
Mike often posts about his days at McDonald’s and previously revealed why you should avoid visiting the fast food restaurant before 10:30am and how menu items are decided in your region.