McNuggets, Happy Meals, kale, Big Macs and McRibs. One of these is not like the others. But the leafy green, kale, may soon be added to the McDonald’s menu.
The fast-food giant is considering kale as an ingredient, in the hopes that the healthy green superfood will improve its standing with customers. Mark Kalinowski, an analyst at Janney Capital Markets, wrote in a recent report:
McDonald’s clearly aims to raise consumers’ perception of the quality of its food. Adding kale to the menu in some way could help be a step in this direction.
According to Nation’s Restaurant News, McDonald’s same-store sales for February dropped 4 percent in the United States. Worldwide sales were down 1.7 percent.
The burger chain said it has an “urgent need to evolve with today’s customers,” NRN reports.
Kale is increasingly popular in the United States. NRN said there were twice as many farms raising kale in 2012 than 2007.
But McDonald’s will neither confirm nor deny that it’s adding the popular leafy green. Lisa McComb, a spokeswoman for the burger chain told the Los Angeles Times: “As we continue to listen to our customers, we’re always looking at new and different ingredients that they may enjoy.”
The fast-food chain has been making some changes under the stewardship of new CEO Steve Easterbrook. The company recently announced that it would no longer use human antibiotics on the chickens it uses in its food.
McDonald’s will also serve “milk jugs of low-fat white milk and fat-free chocolate milk from cows that are not treated with rbST, an artificial growth hormone,” the company said.
Do you think McDonald’s recent changes, and the possible addition of kale, could help turn its declining sales around? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.
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