McDonald’s may introduce a $5 meal to its U.S. menu sometime in the near future in attempt to win back customers, according to one source.
The source said the meal would include either a McDouble, a McChicken, or four pieces of chicken nuggets, in addition to French fries and a drink. The corporate offices of the fast food chain is currently talking to franchise owners about the meal, said the source.
According to a second source, Coca-Cola will also be adding funds to the equation to make the value meal more appealing for customers.
This comes just weeks after the company reported lower foot traffic and growth at its restaurants.
With how inflation has gone up in recent months, many customers have cut back on fast food, as many chains including McDonald’s and Subway have raised their prices to offset higher ingredient and labor costs.
Chris Kempczinski, the CEO of McDonald’s, said in an earnings call with investors and analysts that the company has to focus on maintaining affordable prices in order to coax customers to return.
Increases In Food Prices
While many fast food chains have boosted the prices of their items, McDonald’s has raised its prices the most over the past decade, citing rising labor costs as one of the biggest factors.
This is especially true in California, where a new law mandates that employees at fast food chains must be paid at least $20 an hour.
One poll conducted by Revenue Management Solutions found that one-fourth of Americans who make under $50,000 are cutting back on the amount of fast food they are consuming.
According to industry analysts, fast food chains including McDonald’s must be able to maintain low prices if they wish to maintain earnings projections.
Mark Kalinowski, the head of Kalinowski Equity Research, said that the majority of McDonald’s customers are in the low- and middle-class categories as high-income customers don’t tend to opt for fast-food dining nearly as often.
And because of inflation, the two groups must now be even more careful with how they spend their money, which is why the amount of foot traffic to the restaurants have gone down.
It’s important to note, however, that while a $5 meal will be attractive to many McDonald’s customers, it’s not the first time a fast food chain restaurant has made such a move.
In 2015, Wendy’s released the 4 for $4 meal, which includes four pieces of chicken nuggets, a small hamburger, a small drink, and a small fries. They later added the $5 Biggie Bag in 2019, which includes a choice of four chicken nuggets, sandwich, small drink, and a small fries.
As of 2024, McDonald’s employs over 2 million people across the United States and is the largest fast food chain in the country.
After news of the $5 meal deal broke out, McDonald’s shares went up by 2.7 percent on Friday, the highest increase that the company has seen since the beginning of this year.
