McDonald’s wants to dominate other QSR chains in chicken and beverages, while maintaining its market-leading position in beef, executives said during a Wednesday Investor Day event at its Chicago headquarters.
The company laid out initiatives spanning core menu innovation, technology deployments, customer experience upgrades, restaurant remodels and employee training, all meant to improve its overall system. The chain said it will invest $8.5 billion to support this ambitious agenda through 2036.
The Golden Arches began to upgrade its core menu in 2020, when it launched its Accelerating the Arches plan. Since then, the chain grew sales across its core menu by more than 50% to about $90 billion, Jill McDonald, McDonald’s executive vice president and global chief restaurant experience officer, said during the event.
Now, McDonald’s wants to increase its market share in chicken and beverages by an additional 1.5% by 2030, according to a press release. Menu innovation and food quality will play a huge part in that.
“A five-point increase in customer perception of great taste in chicken translates to more than half-point the share gain in chicken. Improving taste and quality is a meaningful driver for growth,” McDonald said.
Better food translates to higher frequency and sales, and profitability boosts for franchisees, all of which ties back into the chain’s Next strategy.
Check out how the chain will improve and expand each of these categories.
Chicken
McDonald’s has a high-teens percentage market share in the $130 billion chicken category, which is growing at 5% per year, McDonald said, making it one of the fastest-growing QSR menu categories.
The Golden Arches sees a lot of potential with this category. Chicken McNuggets, for example, represent about $16 billion in annual systemwide sales, while the McChicken is about $4 billion, and the McCrispy platform makes up $2.5 billion in sales.
The chain will make this category even better by creating a “Gold Standard Chicken” through process changes, such as optimizing cook times, calibrating fryer settings and adjusting volumes, McDonald said. These changes can have a significant impact, she added, and the fast food chain has already begun to deploy them across its top six markets and will be complete next year.
McDonald’s will also expand its strongest chicken categories, including McNuggets, which grew by 40% in the past five years, she said.
“We'll build on that momentum by expanding the platform through new flavors, signature sauces, product extensions and cultural activations,” she said.
The fast food company will expand its McCrispy platform with new options, scale new chicken strips made with a new recipe that is already deployed across the U.S., and expand its McWings menu into new markets. McDonald’s will also add new items to its chicken platform, like grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps, to meet growing demand for more protein options.
McDonald’s U.S. President Skye Anderson added that McDonald’s already has a strong “right to win in protein-led categories,” and the chain is exploring chicken bowls, grilled chicken and egg bites to expand protein-forward options across all three dayparts.
Hand-breaded chicken is also a “significant opportunity to upgrade taste and quality,” and has already seen initial success across 10,000 restaurants in Asia, McDonald said. Using lessons from China and Malaysia, the chain has been testing hand-breaded chicken in some Chicago restaurants.
“Customer feedback has been fantastic, with double-digit increases in chicken taste and quality scores, and we are now expanding hand-breaded chicken to more markets, supported by advertising in both the U.S. and Ireland in 2027,” McDonald said. “Together, these efforts will drive more first-choice occasions, guest counts, and drive about a point and a half of share growth in chicken by 2030.”
Beverages
Beverages constitute a roughly $230 billion category, which is growing faster than any other QSR menu segment. But McDonald’s market share is only in the high single-digits, despite it being the second-largest coffee player globally, McDonald said.
The McCafé platform has also become a fast-growing category. Earlier this year, it broadened the platform from coffee drinks to include refreshers, energy drinks and dirty sodas, a change that’s now live in 18,000 restaurants.
Beverage is now a clear traffic driver in the afternoon daypart, and more than half of beverage-led visits come after lunch. This creates an incremental opportunity for the chain during times when restaurants have higher capacity, McDonald said.
Loyalty members are also exploring the menu more, and showing a clear uptick in frequency.
“Of loyalty members who purchased a speciality beverage in the first six weeks, nearly half returned for a speciality beverage from a different subcategory by week 12 across all markets,” McDonald said.
These high-margin, low complexity drinks have been embraced by Gen Z consumers, she added.
To build upon that momentum, McDonald’s will add new flavors and recipes, and scale drinks across more restaurants, including within Europe, in the first half of 2027.
It will also enhance its coffee under its “Gold Standard Coffee” focus with new espresso machines in the U.S. that allow for more personalization, including milk alternatives.
Gold Standard Coffee will be deployed in most of McDonald’s internationally operated markets by the end of this year and continue to expand in China, the U.S. and additional markets in 2027.
“We've built, validated and scaled a new multi-year growth platform,” McDonald said. “These great-tasting new beverages, combined with McDonald's unbeatable speed, value, convenience, and our loved food, is proving to be a compelling customer proposition. Beverages are no longer just an add-on, but a reason to visit.”
Beef
McDonald’s remains a global leader “by a wide margin” in beef, a $50 billion category where it has over 40% share. And beef is growing at 3% per year, McDonald said.
Burgers have long been the core of the chain’s identity, with the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder and McDouble and Big Tasty making up billion-dollar assets each, McDonald said. McDonald’s is building upon the next burger equity through Big Arch, a large burger that was deployed earlier this year as a limited-time offering.
“Gold Standard Beef builds on the success of Best Burger, which drove a 1% to 2% lift in sales in the U.S. six months after it launched,” McDonald said. “We're now making great execution easier and more consistent across the system with updated procedures and a new dedicated training program starting in 2027.”
The company is also looking to deploy fresh beef that’s hand-cut and hot-grilled across more markets, as it has already done so in the U.S. The fast food giant is also considering adding more choice for beef in terms of portion sizes, leveraging its $5.5 billion Quarter Pounder equity and expanding into larger burgers with Big Arch and other Quarter Pounders.
“The Quarter Pounder consistently outperforms competition in the U.S. in value-for-money and repurchase intent, and Australia shows what's possible when we make Quarter Pounder the center of innovation and marketing,” McDonald said.
During the third quarter, McDonald’s Australia expanded its Quarter Pounder line up with two new burgers, the Double Quarter Pounder Deluxe and Double Quarter Pounder BBQ Bacon & Crispy Onions. It’s also offering a Cheesy Quarter Pounder for a limited-time.
“[The Cheesy Quarter Pounder] contributed more than 5% of sales in the initial launch window, significantly outperforming previous big LTOs, which contributed closer to 1% of sales,” McDonald said.
McDonald’s will share more Quarter Pounder innovations across markets, giving local markets the opportunity to develop specific flavors and varieties, she said. And as customers move from single to double Quarter Pounders, this leads to a more natural pathway to larger burgers, like the Big Arch. The brand is developing new recipes to expand that platform as well, McDonald added.
Big Arch delivered strong sales lifts and higher guest counts when it was launched, she said, “strengthening our ability to win more first choices in large burgers.”
“We already lead the world in burgers,” McDonald said. “Together, these moves will strengthen preference, increase frequency, and earn us more first-choice occasions across the category.”
