Premium Salads, Apple Dippers Are Good News for Quick Service Giant

With the introduction of Premium Salads, Apple Juice, new milk options and Apple Dippers in more than 13,500, McDonald’s restaurants in the US, the fast food giant is widening its clientele from the burger-and-fry crowd to those in search of leaner and healthier cuisine.

Since launching its new Premium Salad line last year, McDonald’s has sold more than 200 million of the new Premium Salads in the U.S. alone, according to William Whitman, a company spokesman. With more than 15 varieties of mixed greens in each Premium Salad and two servings of vegetables-grape tomatoes and carrot shavings-added to each premium offering, that means 400 million servings of vegetables have been marketed and consumed through the fast food giant’s revamped menu.

In early 2004, McDonald’s also introduced Apple Dippers, fresh sliced and peeled apples served with a low-fat caramel dip, jump starting the fast food chain into the apple business. McDonald’s is now a major distributor of fresh apples in the U.S. In fact, the Apple Growers of America, a national organization, recently recognized McDonald’s for its importance to the apple industry. Apple Dippers are a product that continues to be a huge hit with both children and adults, according to Whitman.

Considering that McDonald’s is traditionally known as a hamburger and french-fry restaurant, “that’s a pretty important distinction,” the company spokesman points out.

Premium Salad Line
McDonald’s launched its new Premium Salads nationwide in April 2003. The campaign kicked off with the introduction of three new, wholesome, high-quality salad entrée options. These include:

· California Cobb Salad: premium mixed greens tossed with grape tomatoes, shaved carrots, crumbled blue cheese, hickory-smoked bacon and chopped egg-offered with Newman’s Own® all-natural California Cobb Dressing.

· Caesar Salad: premium mixed greens with grape tomatoes, shaved carrots, grated Parmesan cheese and savory garlic croutons-offered with Newman’s Own® all-natural Cream Caesar Dressing.

· Bacon Ranch Salad: premium mixed greens tossed with grape tomatoes, shaved carrots, jack and cheddar cheese with hickory-smoked bacon-offered with Newman’s Own® all-natural Ranch Dressing.

“You can have any one of these premium salads with or without chicken,” Whitman points out. “We offer two chicken options, both whole breast meat. One is crispy (fried); the other is grilled. Both are served warm.”

As a promotional item, only available for a limited time, McDonald’s introduced a fourth Premium Salad option:

· Fiesta Salad: premium mixed greens topped with warm seasoned beef, cheddar jack cheese and crispy tortilla strips-offered with sour cream and Newman’s Own® all-natural salsa on the side.

All of these premium salads sell at an economical $3.99.

McDonald’s planners have tentative plans to offer a fifth option, a fruit and walnut premium salad that is expected to be available sometime in 2005. “We’re currently testing the salad in a few markets in the U.S., and it has been doing well,” Whitman says.

The fast food chain also markets a side salad (no chicken) which includes premium mixed greens, grape tomatoes and shaved carrots.
All McDonald’s salads are prepared daily in-store. The basic ingredients, most of which have been pre-cut by processor partners, arrive at restaurants fresh. Turn-around time is considered critical. Freshness and quality is everything.

While the majority of premium salad customers coming into McDonald’s restaurants early in the campaign were women, restaurant managers now report they are seeing more and more male customers. Premium Salads are being picked up as lunch or dinner options.

Customers Coming Back
Interest in the new menu alternatives has been great news for McDonald’s management. “Past customers who have not frequented a McDonald’s restaurant in some time are discovering a reason to come back,” says Whitman. “The view is that now there is truly something on the menu for them.”

Along with the new salad options, McDonald’s Apple Dippers have become a customer favorite, according to Whitman, not just with younger eaters but with adults as well. The pre-cut apple slices are available as an option to french fries at no extra cost and are also available on the dollar menu.

“McDonald’s Apple Dippers provide our customers with great taste and with tremendous convenience,” Whitman notes. “They enable customers to incorporate more fruit into their diets in a convenient and compelling way.”

The apples are sourced from different orchards all over the U.S., but only from dedicated McDonald’s suppliers.

The good news for McDonald’s management is the company has been able to offer its new products without cannibalizing existing sales.
“Today, we’re seeing more customers at our restaurants in the U.S. than we were a year ago,” Whitman points out, “part of that is due to new introductions and part to the fact that we are running better restaurants.”

More Pre-cut Coming?
Are more pre-cut fruit and vegetable options in the works for McDonald’s? “We’re obviously looking at all available options,” Whitman says. “It’s important that whatever we provide our customers be both great tasting and value-added. If the taste is not outstanding, customers won’t buy it, no matter how well you package the product or how low you set the price. It has to taste great, and we need to be able to market it at a reasonable price.”

With about 60 percent of McDonald’s restaurant sales now via its drive-thru windows, packaging meals and products for on-the-go customers is also very important, he stresses. These customers are either on their way to work or are headed back home, and they want a grab-n-go quick bite or quick, easy meal.

Is finding adequate raw product for a new entree a challenge? “Absolutely,” says Whitman. “It took us a couple of years on our Premium Salads to line up the resources needed to supply our system. With 13,000 restaurants in the U.S., we serve approximately 23 million customers every day. That requires a big grocery cart, and we work with a number of supply partners. All work only with quality growers and suppliers-proven sources we can trust and rely on to meet our rigid quality standards. Preparing for a nation-wide roll-out is no easy task. It requires close communication with our supply partners to help us line up enough product to meet our needs.”

For more information on McDonald’s USA’s pre-cut fruit and vegetable program, contact Whitman at: [email protected].

© 2005 Columbia Publishing