McDonald’s latest push in the battle for discount restaurant diners couldn’t come at a better time.
The fast-food giant on Thursday revealed the full extent of its latest value push, including an Under $3 Menu that will debut on April 21 and will feature several of the chain’s lowest-priced items along with a rotating selection of promoted items at national price points.
The menu will include featured items, starting with the Sausage McMuffin at $1.50 in the morning and the McDouble at $2.50.
That effort has been planned for a year, but debuts just as the economy shows signs of weakening as gas prices take off and consumer sentiment declines. The average price of a gallon of gas is $4, according to AAA, while oil prices continue climbing due to the U.S. attack on Iran.
McDonald’s has long argued that lower-income consumers are cutting back and that a divergence between such diners and higher-income Americans will continue.
The brand’s franchisees, which must approve these types of promotions, are clearly on board. An overwhelming majority of them approved the chain’s lower-priced Extra Value Meals last year.
And they voted in favor of the Under $3 Menu, even amid potential concerns about the impact on profitability in higher-priced markets. In some cities, the offer will require operators to lower prices, based on the chain’s prices according to Technomic Price Pulse. But most of the items are already priced below $3 in most places.
“We don’t prescribe exactly how the franchisees have to go deliver value, but the franchisees need to protect the brand,” CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts earlier this year. “And part of that brand DNA is our value leadership we have there.”
The Under $3 Menu will feature a selection of McDonald’s lower-priced items.
For breakfast, it will feature the Sausage McMuffin, Sausage Biscuit, Sausage Burrito, hash browns and a medium coffee.
For lunch and dinner it will feature a McChicken, McDouble, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets, small fries and a small drink.
The company is also debuting a new $4 Breakfast Meal Deal, which will feature either a Sausage McMuffin or Sausage Biscuit, hash browns and coffee.
McDonald’s Under $3 Menu will be part of the company’s McValue menu, which features national, digital and local offers and which debuted last year.
McDonald’s has been experimenting with different elements of its value push for nearly two years. The Under $3 Menu will replace a buy-one, get-one for $1 offer. The company’s Meal Deals, featuring either a McChicken or a McDouble with a 4-piece McNuggets, fries and a drink, will remain.
“Value at McDonald’s isn’t a moment, it’s a journey we’ve been building together over time,” Scott Rodrick, a McDonald’s owner and chair of the McDonald’s Operators National Advertising Fund, or OPNAD, said in a statement. “This next evolution of McValue builds on what fans already love, and as franchisees we’re excited to offer fans more options that fit their lives, routines and budgets.”
Image courtesy of McDonald's.
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