McDonald’s CEO revealed that bigger burgers are on the menu as the fast-food giant looks to the future — fresh on the heels of this week’s announcement that the chain plans to open 9,000 new locations worldwide.
“In the US, in a number of markets, around the world, having a larger burger is an opportunity,” Golden Arches chief Chris Kempczinski told CNN Business on Wednesday.
“We’re working on that,” he added. “That is something that you should expect in the future.”
Kempczinski didn’t dish on exactly how much McDonald’s is planning to supersize its burgers, or when scustomers can expect to get more beef for their buck.
Currently, a McDonald’s hamburger patty weighs in at 1.6 ounces and comes on a standard bun, which is around four inches in diameter.
The chain’s beloved Big Mac, meanwhile, is made with two 1.6-ounce patties served on a three-slice sesame seed bun.
McDonald’s has already been on a quest to improve its staple menu item, announcing a sweeping overhaul of how its burgers will be cooked just last week that will see more than 50 modifications throughout the burger-flipping process.
In tandem with a spring ad campaign promising the fast food titan’s “best burgers ever,” the new initiative seeks to make the bunned delights much more juicy by cooking six patties grilled at a time rather than eight — a move designed to apply less pressure and retain more burger patty juices.
The prized Big Mac will also be getting more sauce, and the bun will be swapped with a buttery brioche alternative with sesame seeds more randomly scattered to give a home-style look, among other tweaks.
However, on top of juicier burgers and higher-quality buns, McDonald’s executives say they’re also catching wind of requests for a more sizable offering.
“We’ve listened to our customers. And we understand their desire for larger, high-quality burgers that fill you up,” said Jo Sempels, who oversees markets where McDonald’s has licensed its brand, during the company’s investor day on Wednesday, per CNN.
Sempels said the fast-food chain will serve its larger burgers in limited markets before rolling it out more broadly across its 40,000-plus locations worldwide.
There’s no doubt the awaited burger boost will also push prices higher, though the company didn’t get specific on costs during Wednesday’s investor event.
“We think we’re going to be able to deliver a great tasting large burger at a superior value to what [customers] can get anywhere else,” Kempczinski said, according to CNN.
Representatives for McDonald’s didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
McDonald’s is firing its expansion plan from all cylinders, announcing plans to supersize its burgers while simultaneously revealing launching its “fastest period of growth in the brand’s history,” which includes opening 9,000 more locations and increasing its loyalty program members by a whopping 100 million by 2027.
The Chicago-based chain said ahead of its investor day event that in four year’s time, there will be 50,000 McDonald’s restaurants.
To stay on target, McDonald’s is projecting a net new restaurant growth of 4% in 2024, which will tick up to 5% in the years following.
Such a plan will require a big chunk of capital spending — about $2.5 billion in capital expenditures in 2024 alone, McDonald’s said.
The figure is higher than the $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion McDonald’s originally anticipated spending next year, the company said in its earnings call with investors following the release of its 2022 fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.
Most of the locations will be across the US, McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden confirmed in a statement to The Post following the announcement, noting that McDonald’s executives have spoken of wanting to open more restaurants across the South to follow where its customers have recently moved.
Other new locations are set to open in its international operated markets segment, which includes Canada, France and Australia, Borden said.
The chain also hopes to up its loyalty program members to 250 million 90-day active users in a move to prove there’s still an appetite for its beef burgers and McNuggets.
