Sept. 24
McDonald’s is testing a new group of protein-rich dishes and smaller meal options as it considers how changing eating habits among users of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs could affect demand at the world’s largest fast-food chains.
The products under consideration include a crispy chicken bowl served over lettuce, cheese and tomatoes with ranch dressing, a grilled-chicken snack wrap and a burger bowl. The company is also exploring breakfast items such as egg bites, according to a company presentation on Wednesday.
No launch timetable has been set. McDonald’s is still developing the products and deciding whether and when they could be introduced, meaning the dishes remain tests rather than confirmed additions to its menu.
The experiments reflect changes the company is seeing among some customers, including people using GLP-1 medicines. These consumers are showing greater interest in protein while some are eating smaller portions, avoiding large bundled meals and cutting back on sugary drinks, McDonald’s said.
At Wednesday’s event, the company served attendees a strawberry-lychee drink made with water instead of lemonade, reducing its calorie content. The drink provides another indication of how McDonald’s is considering alternatives to the large meals and sweetened beverages long associated with the fast-food business.
The potential impact of GLP-1 medicines has become an increasingly important question for food companies as the drugs change appetite and consumption patterns among users.
For McDonald’s, however, the rise of the medicines does not necessarily mean that users are abandoning fast food.
About 84 per cent of US households with a GLP-1 user visit McDonald’s, according to figures presented by the company. Some are choosing existing products that lend themselves to smaller meals, including the Happy Meal, Filet-O-Fish and Chicken McNuggets.
That behaviour suggests the challenge for McDonald’s may be less about replacing its traditional menu than adapting the range and size of products available to customers whose appetites and nutritional preferences have changed.
Protein is one area where the company sees demand.
McDonald’s said grilled chicken was the most requested item among customers seeking more protein. The chain removed grilled chicken from its menu in 2020 as it simplified operations during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its possible return, this time alongside products such as chicken bowls and snack wraps, would give customers more alternatives to the company’s traditional burgers and fried-chicken products.
The burger bowl represents another departure from the familiar McDonald’s format. While details of the product were limited in the presentation, offering a burger in bowl form could provide an alternative for customers seeking the core ingredients of a burger without ordering a conventional bundled meal.
The company has not said that the products will be marketed exclusively to people taking GLP-1 medicines. The menu tests also target the broader group of consumers seeking more protein, smaller portions or lower-calorie alternatives.
That distinction matters because changes associated with GLP-1 drugs overlap with wider food trends. Protein-rich foods have become increasingly prominent across packaged food, restaurants and nutritional products, while consumers have also shown interest in more flexible portion sizes.
For a company built around scale and a highly standardised menu, responding to those trends requires balancing new products against operational complexity.
McDonald’s decision to remove grilled chicken in 2020 illustrated that trade-off. During the pandemic, the company reduced the number of menu items as restaurants sought to simplify kitchen operations. Bringing products such as grilled chicken back would require the chain to determine whether customer demand justifies additional preparation and ingredients.
The growing use of GLP-1 drugs adds another variable.
The medicines can reduce appetite and alter the amount and types of food some users want to consume. For restaurants and packaged-food manufacturers, widespread adoption could affect portion sizes, product composition and purchasing patterns.
McDonald’s figures indicate that GLP-1 households have not stopped visiting its restaurants. Instead, some customers appear to be changing what they order once they arrive.
That difference could shape how the restaurant industry responds to the medicines. Rather than treating GLP-1 adoption solely as a threat to customer traffic, chains could adapt menus around smaller servings, protein and different beverage choices.
McDonald’s current tests appear to follow that approach.
The company already has products that can fit smaller eating occasions. A Happy Meal, for example, provides smaller portions than many of its standard meal combinations, while McNuggets can be purchased in different quantities.
New bowls, wraps and egg-based breakfast products would expand those choices without requiring McDonald’s to abandon the burgers, fries and other foods at the centre of its business.
The company has not disclosed pricing, nutritional details or the markets in which the experimental products might eventually appear. It has also not committed to introducing any of them.
For now, the tests provide an early indication of how one of the world’s largest restaurant companies is thinking about a potentially lasting change in consumer behaviour.
GLP-1 users are still walking through McDonald’s doors. The question the company is trying to answer is increasingly what, and how much, they will want to eat once they get there.
