While Burger King has the Whopper and Wendy's has the Baconator and the Frosty, McDonald's has a huge portfolio of billion-dollar brands.
That gives the chain a lot of flexibility when it comes to adding new versions of fan-favorite items to its menu.
Wendy's (WEN) has been leaning the strategy with its iconic Frosty to excite its customers. The company drops vanilla multiple times per year to add something new or bring back a favorite seasonal flavor.
Related: McDonald’s is bringing back a discontinued favorite
The chain has done the same thing, albeit to a lesser extent, with its Baconator brand, extending it into fries and a breakfast version.
Restaurant Brands International's (QSR) Burger King has leveraged its signature sandwich, the Whopper, in an absurd amount of ways. It recently held a $1 million contest in which customers were asked to submit Whopper ideas, and it regularly offers new versions of its most popular sandwich.
McDonald's (MCD) has an embarrassment of riches, at least when it comes to billion-dollar brands.
"Core menu items – like the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets, and World-Famous Fries – are truly the core of this business, representing about 65% of systemwide sales and driving profitable growth," the company says on its website. "Seventeen classic McDonald’s menu items are billion-dollar brands in their own right, beloved by customers around the world."
That allows it to innovate by making small changes to any one of these highly popular items.
Image source: McDonald's
McDonald's bets big on chicken
When Popeye's, another Restaurant Brands company, revolutionized the fast-food chicken sandwich, it left McDonald's looking for an alternative. The chain tried a few different sandwiches before settling on the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, which was renamed the McCrispy after it joined the chain's permanent menu.
The chain's chief financial officer, Ian Borden, talked about its success during the company's recent third-quarter-earnings call.
"Our McCrispy Chicken Sandwich continues to be an important driver of chicken share growth, having first launched in 2022 and now a $1 billion brand across multiple markets," he said. "McCrispy was most recently launched in Australia this quarter, where early results indicate a lift to chicken category sales while bringing a renewed focus to our chicken portfolio."
The chicken sandwich's success offers menu expansion and limited-time-offer opportunities for the chain worldwide.
"The U.K. continued to drive excitement in chicken by creating fresh takes on our new global favorites," Borden added. "This past quarter, the market featured a new line extension, McCrispy Deluxe, offered alongside the McCrispy and the McSpicy in the market.
"By combining strong execution of our core menu offerings with new flavor news and limited additional complexity, we continue to strengthen our chicken credibility with customers and maintain our market-share leadership in the chicken category."
McDonald's U.S. gets a new McCrispy
McDonald's often tests products around the world before bringing them to its home market. In the case of the new McCrispy, that's not the case this time as the new version of the sandwich will incorporate some tastes that are very popular with Americans.
"McDonald's has a new Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy rolling into stores this week," the Snackolator Instagram page reported. "According to @mcdonalds, the "Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy is stacked with a southern-style fried chicken fillet and bold, applewood smoked bacon. Then, it’s topped with crispy and cool crinkle-cut pickles and finished with a creamy Cajun ranch sauce on the top and bottom of a warm, toasted potato roll."
The chain will also sell a deluxe version that will be offered with lettuce and tomatoes. McDonald's has not disclosed calorie information or pricing for the new chicken sandwiches.
"You'll be able to get this sandwich nationwide on [April 17] but many stores are selling them early so take a look if you head out near a McDonald's," the website added.
