Happy Meals: Why McDonald’s is revamping its classic burgers

If you are a lover of McDonald’s you are probably going to go, “I’m loving it”. The fast-food giant is making changes to its burgers to make them “better than ever”. The buns will be softer, the cheese gooier, and the onions more caramelised. McDonald’s is upgrading its signature hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble burger and Big Mac. It plans to roll out “softer pillowy” buns, which are toasted golden brown with “perfectly melted cheese” and a “juicier, caramelised flavour from adding white onions to the patties while they’re still on the grill,” the company said, according to USA Today. Big Macs will be served with more sauce. Hamburglar will also make a comeback. A new commercial featuring the cartoonish character, who was last seen in 2015, is making rounds on YouTube. But, why is McDonald’s revamping its classic burgers? Let’s find out. ‘More flavourful than ever’ McDonald’s has already made “small but tasty improvements” to its burgers in Australia, Canada and Belgium, where it received “rave reviews”. In the United States, the changes in the menu have been rolled out in several West Coast cities including Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boise, Tucson, and surrounding areas, as per the USA Today report.

The upgrade in the menu will be available across the US by 2024.

Announcing the changes on Monday (17 April), Chef Chad Schafer, McDonald’s USA’s senior director of culinary innovation, said in a statement: “I’ll always remember my first burger from McDonald’s. And now my culinary team and I have the best job in the world: thinking about ways to bring even more of that iconic McDonald’s taste to fans”. [caption id=“attachment_12473742” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The upgrade in McDonald’s burger recipes will be available across the US by 2024. Reuters (Representational Image)[/caption] “We found that small changes, like tweaking our process to get hotter, meltier cheese and adjusting our grill settings for a better sear, added up to a big difference in making our burgers more flavourful than ever,” he added. Explaining the need for the upgrade, Tariq Hassan, chief marketing and customer experience officer for McDonald’s in the US, was quoted as saying by MarketWatch: “We saw the opportunity to make a few changes in our kitchens to make them even more delicious and get back to what people loved most about them in the first place…making them hotter, juicier and tastier.” ALSO READ: Food Talk: Burger boom in India Recent changes This new update in the menu comes two years after the fast-food giant debuted its crispy chicken sandwich to challenge the steadily expanding Chick-fil-A, noted New York Post. McDonald’s entrant in the chicken sandwich wars seems to have paid off, as CEO and President Chris Kempczinski said previously that the company is “gaining market share in both chicken and beef”. “In an environment where our customers are looking for the simple and familiar, our core menu items have never been more relevant,” he reportedly said during a call with investors in January. Earlier in 2018, McDonald’s said that it was shifting to fresh beef for its Quarter Pounders. McDonald’s is not alone in making upgrades to its core menu items rather than pushing new products. One of its biggest rivals, Burger King, announced last year its “Reclaim the Flame” plan by investing $400 million in improving the brand and promoting its signature Whopper through advertising. The need for revamp Analysts say McDonald’s is likely to have launched these cooking changes to stay ahead in the game and compete against rival brands with better products. Veteran fast-food analyst Mark Kalinowski told MarketWatch that the Chicago-based fast-food giant is financially secure and remains America’s top burger destination. [caption id=“attachment_12473752” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] McDonald’s reported a net income of $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. Reuters File Photo[/caption] “And that means it’s likely mindful of how the burger world has evolved, with so many fast-casual burger-centric chains, such as Shake Shack and Five Guys, becoming more established over the years”. He added that McDonald’s “is No 1 and they want to stay No 1”. Alper Uyanik, a founder of Harlem Burger Co, an independent restaurant in New York City, said McDonald’s must be aware of how consumers are flocking to other burger establishments. Has McDonald’s growth slowed? Does not seem so. According to the company, its global comparable sales hiked 12.6 per cent in the fourth financial quarter ending December 2022. The same-store sales in the US climbed 5.9 per cent in last year’s fourth quarter, increasing 10.3 per cent for the entire year. The company’s stock has also surged over 15 per cent, as compared to a year ago, reported Yahoo Finance. Guggenheim Partners Director Gregory Francort told Yahoo Finance that McDonald’s is “doing $50 billion in sales on an industry that’s $800 [billion] or $900 billion.” It reported a net income of $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, a rise from $1.64 billion year over year, as per New York Post. Earlier in April, McDonald’s started a companywide restructuring, leading to hundreds of layoffs and pay cuts for some employees , reported The Wall Street Journal. According to Associated Press, the fast-food giant had warned its employees in January to expect as job cuts as the company tried to become more “nimble, innovate more quickly and break down walls between its global markets”. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .