A McDonald’s is seen in the Flatbush neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, on Oct. 23, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
McDonald’s is preparing 2025 value offerings in a bid to hang onto customers who are fed up with high costs at restaurants.
The company is working on a new “McValue” approach for next year that involves keeping the $5 value meal offer it launched this summer on the menu for the first half of the year, along with introducing a “buy one add one” option for $1 more, CNBC has learned. The “buy one add one” offer includes a double cheeseburger; McChicken sandwich; 6 piece chicken nuggets and small fry; or breakfast options of a Sausage McMuffin, sausage biscuit or sausage burrito and a hash brown, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Local value offerings have been on menus across the country and in the app as of late, including 10 piece nuggets for $1, among other deals, as a part of the broader value strategy.
While operators are still voting on the 2025 value offerings, the initiative looks likely to pass, two people familiar with the matter said.
In a statement to CNBC, McDonald’s said, “We and our franchisees have heard customers loud and clear when it comes to keeping prices as affordable as possible. From the popular $5 Meal Deal, to numerous local and in-App offers on the food they love – we went big on value this summer and fall, bringing fans even more ways to save when they visit McDonald’s. And as we look to 2025, we’re cooking up something even bigger. We can’t wait to share what’s in store.”
In its most recent quarter, McDonald’s reported earnings and revenue that topped expectations, but saw its same-store sales fall globally by 1.5%. Sales rose 0.3% in the U.S., slightly weaker than anticipated by analysts.
On the earnings call, executives said they were working to solidify a 2025 value platform to launch in the first quarter of the year.
“You need, at the foundation, to have a strong value proposition. And that’s been the focus for us in a number of our markets, either strengthening, adding to, adjusting our value programs so we have that good foundation,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said on a call with analysts.
“You need to then overlay on top of that food news that can excite the customer, and you have to have great marketing behind it. And when you do that with news and great marketing, you can get strong full margin check that goes along with some of those value programs,” he said.
But a recent outbreak of E. coli tied to McDonald’s slivered onions dented traffic in October, executives said, which will fall into the fourth-quarter earnings cycle.
The fast-food giant will invest more than $100 million to boost restaurant sales and speed up the recovery at affected franchisees, CNBC reported Friday.
Of that total, $65 million will be invested into supporting owners who have lost business, targeting those in the hardest-hit states. Approximately $35 million will be invested in traffic-driving programs, including marketing efforts, according to a memo to owners and employees viewed by CNBC.
