McDonald’s is bringing new flavors to its menu with the addition of two new limited-time sauces. The sauces come to the menu on Oct.9 and the burger giant is putting a big marketing push behind the launch.
The first new addition is McDonald’s Sweet & Spicy Jam sauce which is a red pepper sauce, made with Szechuan peppercorn, cayenne pepper and apple cider vinegar. McDonald’s says the sauce should be paired with the Sausage McMuffin, Egg & Cheese Biscuit or hashbrowns. The Sweet & Spicy Jam Sauce is the first breakfast-inspired dipping sauce to launch in U.S. units, according to a statement.
The second is McDonald’s Mambo Sauce. The sauce is tomato-based with sweet and spicy flavors and is inspired by the sauce popular in the Washington, D.C area. McDonald’s recommends adding it to the Quarter Pounder with Cheese or to use for dipping with hashbrowns and fries.
“Sweet & Spicy Jam and Mambo Sauce live at the intersection of flavor and culture, pulling from decades of rich food history and tradition in local restaurants and home kitchens, and bringing the delicious spice, sweetness and kick of heat we know today’s customers are craving,” said Tariq Hassan, chief marketing and customer experience officer at McDonald’s USA, in a statement.
McDonald’s will be celebrating the launch of the new flavors by inviting several food-centric content creators to review the sauces on their social media channels. And the burger giant is launching an original documentary on McDonald’s YouTube channel all about the Mambo Sauce’s cultural ties to Washington D.C. and Chicago communities.
Sauce innovation has taken center stage as of late, as consumers crave original flavors from their favorite restaurant chains. According to a Consumer Trend Report from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic, 41% of consumers are more tempted to order a menu item when it comes with an “original” sauce, offered only at that restaurant. Chains like Raising Canes and Zaxby’s lean into their original sauces, often playing into them as a marketing strategy.
And McDonald’s appears to be the latest chain leaning into sauce innovation as a form of menu development.
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