Can McDonald's 'Signature Burger' save its sales?
McDonald鈥檚 is creating new menu items again. In selected markets the chain is trying out a 鈥�Signature Burger,鈥� a new low-price entry that anchors what鈥檚 been rechristened the 鈥�Lovin鈥� Value Menu.鈥�
The Signature Burger doesn鈥檛 bring new ingredients to the McDonald鈥檚 pantry. It combines two regular burger patties with white Cheddar cheese, tomato, lettuce and creamy Dijon mustard sauce. It鈥檚 on a potato bun that鈥檚 a step up from most of the burgers on what used to be the Dollar Menu & More.
Test drive-thru menu boards don鈥檛 mention the Dollar Menu & More. Instead they promote the Lovin鈥� Value Menu鈥檚 鈥�Mini Meals,鈥� which are higher-margin combo meals involving items that were on the Dollar Menu & More. The Signature Burger is $2.49 by itself (prices may vary). But with small fries and small soft drink it tops the new Mini Meal category at $3.99. With a not-so-mini medium soft drink & fries the price is $4.69. That brings it close to the $4.99 a la carte price for the premium-tier Third Pound Sirloin burgers.
Other Mini Meal combos promoted up high on the drive-thru menu board being tried are a $3.39 McDouble Mini Meal, $2.99 Cheeseburger Mini Meal, $3.49 Double Cheeseburger Mini Meal and $2.99 McChicken Mini Meal. These items also are listed lower on the menu board at their a la carte prices (again, not with the Dollar Menu & More name), a duplication that runs counter to the menu streamlining and simplification McDonald鈥檚 says it is seeking.
Another interesting element of the Lovin鈥� Value Menu in test is a聽Classic Pack聽boxed meal. If you鈥檙e a longtime BurgerBusiness.com reader, you know I鈥檝e been talking about multi-person boxed meals since McDonald鈥檚 Australia introduced the聽聽in 2010. It has taken five years, but the boxed multi-person meal finally seems ready for the big time in the U.S. after spreading just about everywhere else in the global McDonald鈥檚 system. As tested, the $13.99 Classic Pack has two Quarter Pounder with Cheese or two Big Macs (or mix and match) plus two medium fries, three sauces and a 20-piece Chicken McNuggets. The menu board say it 鈥渟erves 4鈥� though two young adults with hearty appetites might disagree.
In his May 4聽聽outlining the beginnings of his turnaround plan, McDonald鈥檚 CEO Steve Easterbrook promised, 鈥淪tronger insights underpinning the development of a compelling and sustainable聽everyday value proposition聽this summer to drive sales.鈥� This 鈥淟ovin鈥� Value Menu鈥� platform with its Mini Meal combos and Signature Burger certainly may be parts of that.
McDonald鈥檚 summer menu also will see the return of聽Frozen Strawberry Lemonade聽plus a new beverage: a聽McCaf茅 Green Apple Smoothie.
