McDonald’s on Wednesday confirmed the world’s worst secret: It is bringing its McRib sandwich back starting early next month.
This time, the chain is adding something else: a jug of McRib sauce.
The Chicago-based fast-food giant will let customers buy a half-gallon jug of McRib sauce online for $19.99. “McRib SZN,” as the company calls it, “is a holiday unto itself, so we wanted to embrace that spirit and give fans an even bigger way to celebrate this year with a whole lotta McRib sauce,” Tariq Hassan, chief marketing and customer experience officer with McDonald’s, said in a statement.
The sandwich’s return is zero surprise, given that it’s been talked about on social media for weeks. That said, McDonald’s a year ago pushed the idea that its reintroduction of the McRib would be its last, with a “farewell tour” that almost nobody actually believed.
In any event, though it wasn’t intended as such, the McRib’s return comes at a suddenly vital time for McDonald’s, which will be under some pressure to regenerate sales that turned south in late October, following word of an E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 100 people in 14 states.
That outbreak was traced to slivered onions the company sourced from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado Springs. That outbreak has been contained, the onions recalled and removed and federal health officials have indicated that danger to the public is “low” at this point.
McDonald’s, which pulled Quarter Pounders from its menu for a time, has since returned them, with onions, to all restaurants.
But the outbreak reversed a sales recovery last month, fueled by McDonald’s limited-time offer of a Chicken Big Mac. Company executives said sales and traffic took a hit.
McDonald’s is now investing $100 million to recover from the sales hit and help franchisees. That includes $35 million in marketing, which is funding a national ad campaign through the end of the year as well as additional value and digital marketing.
The McRib is typically an important sales vehicle for the company, at least when it makes an actual return to the menu. The sandwich helped drive sales at the end of 2023. The product has a cult following that tends to lure consumers whenever it’s introduced.
McDonald’s this year is adding the ability to buy McRib sauce, which customers can buy over the web starting Monday, Nov. 25, at 10 a.m. ET, “while supplies last.”
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