McDonald's Bets on Salads Again—But History Says It Won't Move the Needle

 

Why Bringing Back Salads Won't Reverse Slowing Sales, Lower Food Costs, or Win New Customers

By Steven Johnson, The Grocerant Guru® | Foodservice Solutions® | Tacoma, Washington

When a company's stock price comes under pressure, investors begin looking for signals that management has a strategy to reignite growth. Unfortunately, bringing back a discontinued menu item rarely qualifies as a transformational growth strategy.

That is precisely why McDonald's renewed interest in salads deserves a closer look.

History tells us that salads have never been a meaningful traffic driver for McDonald's. More importantly, today's consumer is making food purchasing decisions very differently than when McDonald's first entered the salad business more than four decades ago.

From the perspective of the Grocerant Guru®, the return of salads is unlikely to materially improve top-line sales, lower food costs, increase restaurant profitability, or drive meaningful customer migration from competing restaurants.

The challenge isn't the product.

The challenge is the consumer.

The Numbers Behind Today's Consumer

Today's food consumer has fundamentally changed how dinner is sourced.

According to Circana's Future of Dinner research, 81% of all evening meals are sourced from home, whether cooked from scratch or assembled using Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat foods purchased from grocery stores, warehouse clubs, convenience stores, or restaurants. Even more revealing, approximately one-half of all dinners are prepared in 15 minutes or less, demonstrating that convenience—not cooking—is driving meal decisions.

The National Restaurant Association reports that consumers continue to rank value, convenience, speed, portability, and digital ordering among the primary reasons for selecting where to purchase meals. At the same time, USDA data continues to show that food-away-from-home prices have generally increased faster than food-at-home prices over the past several years, encouraging consumers to stretch food budgets by combining restaurant purchases with grocery store meal components.

The result is a dramatically expanded competitive landscape.

McDonald's is no longer competing simply against Burger King or Wendy's.

Today's competitors include:

·       Grocery store prepared foods departments

·       Costco's ready-to-eat meal offerings

·       Convenience stores such as Circle K, Casey's, QuikTrip, and Wawa

·       Dollar stores expanding refrigerated and frozen foods

·       Club stores

·       Meal-kit providers

·       Fast-casual restaurant concepts

Consumers now build meals from multiple retail channels based on value, convenience, portability, and time—not brand loyalty alone.

That is the modern battle for share of stomach.

A Look Back: Fast Food's Long Love Affair with Salads

McDonald's has been trying to make salads a meaningful business category since the mid-1980s.

Over the years consumers have seen:

·       Garden Salads

·       Chef Salads

·       Premium Salads

·       McSalad Shakers

·       Premium Southwest Salads

·       Bacon Ranch Salads

·       Caesar-inspired offerings

Each launch generated significant media attention.

None fundamentally changed the business.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, McDonald's simplified its menu, eliminating salads because they complicated operations while generating relatively modest sales. Even after operational conditions normalized, salads remained absent because customer demand never justified bringing them back as a core business platform.

McDonald's isn't alone.

Nearly every major quick-service chain has attempted to position salads as a growth category.

Burger King promoted Fresh Salads.

Jack in the Box expanded premium salads.

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's invested in healthier menu platforms.

Arby's experimented with Market Fresh offerings.

Dairy Queen tested entrée salads.

Even Chick-fil-A, whose Market Salad is among the most respected in quick service, derives the overwhelming majority of its sales from chicken sandwiches, nuggets, waffle fries, beverages, and meal bundles—not salads.

Wendy's arguably built the strongest salad reputation in traditional quick service. Yet despite award-winning salads, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, breakfast, fries, Frostys, and combo meals continue to generate the vast majority of restaurant traffic.

History is remarkably consistent.

Consumers may appreciate salads.

They simply don't choose burger chains because of them.

The Economics Simply Don't Work

Salads also present one of the most operationally challenging menu categories in foodservice.

Unlike frozen French fries, beef patties, or chicken products that deliver long shelf life and predictable yields, salads depend on highly perishable ingredients.

Fresh lettuce.

Tomatoes.

Cucumbers.

Fresh vegetables.

Cheeses.

Grilled chicken.

Multiple dressings.

Every ingredient increases inventory complexity.

Every day unsold salads become waste.

Fresh produce requires strict temperature controls, shorter inventory cycles, additional labor, and greater food-safety monitoring.

Those factors increase:

·       Food waste

·       Labor expense

·       Refrigeration requirements

·       Inventory management complexity

·       Supply chain variability

·       Overall food cost volatility

Unless salad sales achieve exceptionally high volumes—which history suggests is unlikely—profit margins become increasingly difficult to maintain.

Simply stated, salads generally create more operational complexity than financial leverage.

Consumers Visit McDonald's for Permission to Indulge

Brands matter.

Consumers don't visit McDonald's because they suddenly want to become healthier.

They visit because McDonald's owns decades of emotional equity built around:

·       World-famous French Fries

·       Big Macs

·       Quarter Pounders

·       Chicken McNuggets

·       Egg McMuffins

·       Drive-thru convenience

·       Affordable family meals

These products define the brand.

Consumers rarely wake up craving a McDonald's salad.

They crave fries.

Brand positioning shapes consumer expectations far more than menu expansion.

Adding salads doesn't redefine the brand.

It simply expands the menu.

The Battle Has Shifted from Restaurants to Retail Food

The competitive battlefield has fundamentally changed.

Today's consumer may purchase:

·       Rotisserie chicken from Costco

·       Salad kits from Aldi

·       Dessert from Dairy Queen

·       Fresh fruit from Walmart

·       Beverages from Dollar General

—all for the same family dinner.

Restaurant loyalty has become meal loyalty.

Consumers increasingly optimize every food purchase based upon convenience, price, quality, portability, and time.

That means McDonald's isn't competing against salads.

It's competing against complete meal solutions.

Bundles Beat Bowls

Consumers increasingly purchase bundled meal solutions instead of individual menu items.

The industry's fastest-growing opportunities include:

·       Family meal bundles

·       Ready-2-Eat meals

·       Heat-N-Eat meals

·       Mix-and-match meal components

·       Value meals

·       Digital loyalty offers

·       Drive-thru meal occasions

Those categories solve dinner.

A salad usually does not.

Salads frequently become an add-on purchase rather than the reason someone visits a restaurant.

Add-ons generate incremental revenue.

They rarely create incremental customer traffic.

That distinction matters.

What McDonald's Really Needs

The future isn't about becoming healthier.

The future is about becoming more relevant.

Winning brands will continue investing in:

·       Digital personalization

·       Faster drive-thru operations

·       AI-enhanced ordering

·       Value meal bundles

·       Limited-time craveable products

·       Portable meal solutions

·       Menu innovation consumers can't easily duplicate at home

Those initiatives create customer migration.

History suggests salads do not.

Final Thought

McDonald's has earned one of the strongest brands in restaurant history by understanding exactly why consumers visit.

Bringing salads back may satisfy a small segment of existing customers, generate positive headlines, and create a temporary marketing story.

However, history strongly suggests it will not materially increase guest counts, improve food costs, redefine the brand, or reverse slowing sales momentum.

In today's marketplace, consumers are not searching for another fast-food salad.

They are searching for the easiest, fastest, highest-value solution for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

That battle is being fought every day across restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, warehouse clubs, and dollar stores.

And increasingly, the winners are those solving the entire meal occasion—not simply adding another menu item.

 

Three Insights from the Grocerant Guru®

1. Salads Don't Drive Customer Migration—Complete Meal Solutions Do.

Consumers don't switch restaurants because one chain introduces another salad. They migrate toward operators that consistently deliver superior value, convenience, speed, portability, and bundled meal solutions. The future belongs to brands that solve meal occasions rather than simply expanding menu categories.

2. Fresh Produce Adds Operational Complexity Faster Than Revenue.

Salads increase labor, inventory management, food safety requirements, refrigeration needs, and spoilage risk. Unless sales volumes become exceptionally high, the economics seldom outperform core menu categories like burgers, chicken, fries, and breakfast, which benefit from decades of operational optimization.

3. The Real Battle Is No Longer Restaurant vs. Restaurant.

The battle is for share of stomach. Grocery stores, convenience stores, warehouse clubs, dollar stores, and restaurants are all competing for the same meal occasions. The brands that will win over the next decade will be those offering compelling Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat meal bundles, frictionless digital ordering, portability, and exceptional value—not simply healthier menu additions.

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Fresh is the New Front Door: Why Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Foods Are Defining Grocery Success

 

Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® for decades, has maintained that consumers do not wake up thinking about retail channels—they wake up thinking about meals. Today's consumer is asking a simple question: "What's for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack?" The retailer that answers that question most effectively wins the transaction, the loyalty, and increasingly the long-term customer relationship.

The newly released Logile 2026 State of Fresh Grocery Shopping Report reinforces what the Grocerant Guru® has documented for over 30 years: fresh food is no longer simply a department—it is a strategic growth platform.

According to Logilehttps://www.logile.com, 91% of consumers say fresh departments strongly influence whether they trust a grocery store. That finding should not surprise anyone paying attention to evolving food consumption patterns. Fresh produce, deli, bakery, and prepared foods now serve as a visual representation of the entire brand experience.

Consumers increasingly judge a retailer within seconds of entering a store. A vibrant produce department, a well-stocked service deli, freshly prepared meals, and appetizing bakery displays communicate operational excellence, quality, and value. Conversely, empty shelves, bruised produce, or poorly maintained displays signal neglect and drive shoppers elsewhere.

Fresh Departments Drive Store Switching

Perhaps most notable is that 78% of consumers reported shopping at a different grocery store because another retailer's fresh departments looked better.

That statistic highlights a profound shift in consumer behavior. Loyalty today is increasingly earned transaction by transaction rather than inherited from habit.

Consumers have become highly mobile shoppers. Between grocery stores, convenience stores, warehouse clubs, restaurants, meal delivery platforms, and digital ordering options, food shoppers have more choices than at any time in history.

Fresh food has become one of the strongest competitive differentiators.

The report found that when convenience was equal, 46% of shoppers selected the retailer with better fresh offerings while only 40% selected the lower-priced option. This finding underscores the continuing evolution of the Grocerant Guru® Price-Value-Service Equilibrium.

Consumers still seek value, but value today extends beyond price. Quality, freshness, convenience, portability, meal solutions, and time savings increasingly influence purchase decisions.

The Real Battleground: Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Foods

The most revealing statistic in the report may be that 68% of shoppers said hot prepared meals would encourage purchases from a store's deli or prepared foods section.

That finding aligns with broader industry trends.

Research from FMI and Circana has consistently shown that approximately 80% or more of evening meals are sourced and consumed at home. Yet consumers simultaneously report having less time to cook and less interest in extensive meal preparation or cleanup than previous generations.

The result is a powerful opportunity for retailers that provide meal solutions rather than ingredients alone.

Consumers increasingly seek:

·       Ready-2-Eat meals requiring no preparation

·       Heat-N-Eat meals requiring minimal preparation

·       Mix-and-match meal components

·       Grab-and-go snacks and mini-meals

·       Portable meal bundles

·       Family meal solutions

·       Restaurant-quality meals at retail prices

The modern consumer wants the experience of eating at home without the labor associated with cooking from scratch.

That means fewer pots and pans.

Fewer dishes.

Less meal planning.

Less food waste.

Less time in the kitchen.

More time with family.

The retailers that deliver those outcomes consistently are winning market share.

Why Consumers Still Want to Shop Fresh In-Store

The report found that 74% of consumers continue shopping in physical stores because of fresh food offerings.

This represents one of grocery retail's strongest defenses against digital disruption.

Fresh food engages all the senses. Consumers want to see the produce, smell fresh bakery items, evaluate prepared meals, and visually assess quality before purchasing.

While digital ordering continues to grow, fresh departments remain a key traffic generator that online platforms struggle to fully replicate.

Consumers continue to rely on visual cues when purchasing food. Logile found that 85% of respondents say produce appearance significantly impacts buying decisions.

Freshness communicates confidence.

Confidence drives purchases.

Purchases build loyalty.

Fresh Food Is the Ultimate Brand Signal

The report also found that 84% of consumers believe a poorly maintained produce or fresh section negatively affects their perception of the entire store.

That reinforces a critical reality.

Consumers often use fresh departments as a proxy for operational competence.

If produce appears neglected, shoppers frequently assume similar problems exist throughout the store.

Conversely, retailers that execute fresh effectively create a halo effect across all categories.

This is particularly important as grocers compete not only with traditional supermarkets but also convenience stores, warehouse clubs, dollar stores, quick-service restaurants, fast-casual chains, and delivery platforms.

The competition is no longer store versus store.

It is meal versus meal.

Channel Blurring Continues to Accelerate

The Grocerant Guru® has long argued that consumers think in terms of meals and meal occasions, not retail channels.

Today, prepared foods from supermarkets compete directly against restaurant takeout.

Convenience stores compete against quick-service restaurants.

Warehouse clubs compete against family meal bundles.

Meal kits compete against deli prepared foods.

Consumers simply choose the solution that best balances quality, convenience, value, and speed.

As a result, fresh prepared foods have become one of the most important tools for maintaining customer relevance and driving repeat visits.

Retailers that excel in fresh execution are no longer merely selling groceries.

They are selling time.

They are selling convenience.

They are selling meal solutions.

And increasingly, they are selling restaurant-quality food consumed at home.

Four Insights from the Grocerant Guru®

1. Fresh Prepared Foods Are Becoming the New Anchor Department
Prepared foods, Ready-2-Eat meals, and Heat-N-Eat solutions are increasingly driving store visits in the same way produce once did. The retailers that invest in prepared foods will capture more meal occasions and larger baskets.

2. Consumers Want Home Dining Without Home Cooking
Consumers continue to prefer eating at home, but they increasingly reject the time commitment associated with meal preparation and cleanup. Retailers that reduce both cooking time and dishwashing time create measurable value.

3. Mix-and-Match Meal Bundling Drives Incremental Sales
Customers increasingly assemble meals from multiple departments—deli entrees, fresh sides, bakery items, beverages, and desserts. Retailers that merchandise complete meal solutions rather than individual items will outperform competitors.

4. Freshness Is the New Trust Metric
Price remains important, but freshness has become a primary indicator of retailer credibility. Consumers increasingly judge the entire brand experience based on the appearance, availability, and quality of fresh food offerings.

The retailers that understand fresh food is no longer a department—but a complete meal solutions platform—will be the ones that remain relevant as consumer expectations continue to evolve.

Elevate Your Brand with Expert Insights

For corporate presentations, regional chain strategies, educational forums, or keynote speaking, Steven Johnson, the Grocerant Guru®, delivers actionable insights that fuel success.

With deep experience in restaurant operations, brand positioning, and strategic consulting, Steven provides valuable takeaways that inspire and drive results.

Visit GrocerantGuru.com or FoodserviceSolutions.US Call 1-253-759-7869