海角大神

McDonald鈥檚 Corp. executives used to speak with pride of its 鈥渞obust new-product pipeline鈥� that constantly produces menu innovations. Last week they changed the tune. Chief Operating Officer Tim Fenton told analysts that the chain had 鈥渙vercomplicated鈥� its menu in 2013 by adding 鈥渢oo many new products, too fast.鈥� The pace was so robust that 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 give the restaurants a chance to breathe,鈥� Fenton said, and I give him credit for owning an uncomfortable truth. McDonald鈥檚 certainly isn鈥檛 broken but the menu needs reevaluation and the chain accepts that now.

Its menu problems didn鈥檛 start in 2013. Pushed by nutritionists鈥� call for more healthful foods, pulled by consumers鈥� insatiable appetite for new flavors and tripped up by an unexpected post-recession need for budget-priced items, the McDonald鈥檚 menu increased in size 75% between 2004 and 2014.聽 The current menu has 121 permanent items; barely a decade ago there were just 69 items for crew to assemble.

And that鈥檚 121聽permanent聽items on the item. The total doesn鈥檛 include Fish McBites, Steak & Egg Burrito, White Chocolate Mocha, Pralines & Cr猫me McFlurry, Quarter Pounder BLT and all the other limited-time items of the past year or so.

As shown in the accompanying chart, the biggest increases have come in the burger/sandwich category and through the addition of聽惭肠颁补蹿茅聽beverages (lattes in 2009; smoothies and frappes joined in 2010),Snack Wraps聽(2006) and聽Premium McWraps听(2013).

The Big N鈥� Tasty arrived with the New Tastes Menu in 2001, then departed in 2011.

That the burger category has nearly doubled in size is surprising considering that the聽Angus Third Pounders听补苍诲听Big N鈥� Tasty聽burgers that were on the 2004 menu have since been eliminated. What has happened is a proliferation of聽鈥渇lanker鈥� products. The core聽Double Cheeseburger聽was joined in 2008 by a聽McDouble聽burger (a Double Cheeseburger with just one piece of cheese) followed by the 2012 arrival of the聽Daily Double聽(with lettuce and tomato) and this year鈥檚聽Bacon McDouble聽(one of the five new burgers that came in the聽Dollar Menu & More,聽adding complexity).

The decision to offer chicken sandwiches and salads in both 鈥渃rispy鈥� and 鈥済rilled鈥� chicken varieties鈥攑leasing calorie counters鈥攆urther bloated the menu. In 2004, chicken choices were limited to just four: McChicken, Chicken McGrill, Crispy Chicken and Hot 鈥榥 Spicy Chicken sandwiches. The current menu has four varieties of the聽McChicken聽alone. There are also six different Premium chicken sandwiches (in crispy or grilled, of course).

The Daily Double is a 鈥渇lanker鈥� to the Double Cheeseburger and McDouble.

As if that all weren鈥檛 complicated enough, the chain rolled out the聽鈥淎fter Midnight Menu鈥�聽that made selected dinner and breakfast items available from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.

McDonald鈥檚 always has moved items on and off the menu. Recall that in聽2001, having installed the new 鈥淢ade For You鈥� cooking system, McDonalds introduced the聽New Tastes Menu. This was a group of 40 new products鈥攖hat鈥檚 right, 40鈥攆rom which local markets would pick up to four at a time, cycling these new items to and from their menu boards. 鈥淲e鈥檙e launching New Tastes Menu to give customers even more taste, variety and value at McDonald鈥檚,鈥� said then-USA President Alan Feldman, sounding very much like the current company line.

The New Tastes Menu items included the Big N鈥� Tasty, Crispy Chicken McClub, BBQ Bacon Chicken McGrill, Sausage Breakfast Burrito and McRib Jr.

What鈥檚 important about the New Tastes Menu is that most items didn鈥檛 stick around. The came; they went. And that鈥檚 what has overextended McDonald鈥檚 menu over the past two years: too many new menu items didn鈥檛 know when it was time to leave. Premium McWraps; Steak, Egg & Cheese McMuffins and Biscuits; Egg White Delight McMuffin, Mighty Wings and the Grilled Onion Cheddar burger are still on the menu. At least the CBO (Cheddar Bacon Onion) and Chicken McBites didn鈥檛 move in permanently.

Testing build-your-own Quarter Pounders as it is doing in聽聽won鈥檛 simply overcomplicated operations. McDonald鈥檚 believes that new聽High-Density Kitchen聽equipment will allow crews to better handle the current menu and鈥攕ay it isn鈥檛 so鈥攆uture additions. It might, but I鈥檇 say McDonald鈥檚 needs to slow itself down, show the door to some of its extended menu family (four McChickens? McGriddles?), listen less to its critics and get back to the business of being the world鈥檚 biggest burger chain.