Kale? At McDonald's? Fresher, Healthier Ingredients Becoming The Norm In Fast Food

Nevin Barich

Nevin Barich

LOS ANGELES , April 25, 2017 () – How can Industry Intelligence better your business? Click here to sign up for a free 15-minute demo.

Recently, I was in the drive-thru at my local McDonald’s waiting on my Big Mac value meal when I noticed a poster on the outside wall featuring kale. The poster had a caption that read:

“Kale. Time To Meet A Real-Life Superfood.”

Now in the past, it might have seemed weird that a fast food chain would emphasize a food or ingredient generally characterized as healthy. But these days, this is becoming more the norm across the fast food spectrum.

Here are some recent example of major fast food chains highlighting healthier options:

McDonald’s

McDonald’s has been doing test runs of offering fresh beef at various locations and recently announced that it would replace frozen beef patties for fresh ones in its Quarter Pounder burgers by the middle of 2018 at most of its U.S. locations.

Papa John’s

Papa John's announced a partnership with Green Bean Delivery, an organic home grocery delivery service, to help it serve its pizza with all-natural ingredients including freshly-sliced roma tomatoes, green peppers and mushrooms. The pizza chain is testing these ingredients in its Lexington, Kentucky, market through May 21. In addition, Papa John's began offering an option to purchase any pizza made with gluten-free crust. The gluten-free option is available only in the company's Los Angeles, Phoenix, St. Louis and Nashville, Tennessee, markets.

KFC

KFC says it’s hoping to improve the taste of its chicken filets by switching to filets breaded at the stores from filets that were breaded and frozen offsite before being shipped to the stores in favor of filets breaded at the stores.

Starbucks

Starbucks announced that it would offer a gluten-free sandwich this year as well as organic soups, part of its plan to double its food sales to nearly $5 billion by 2021.

Chipotle

Chipotle recently announced that its menu now contains only “clean” ingredients after the company removed artificial ingredients from its tortillas.

Panera Bread

Panera has begun labeling its fountain machines with sugar and calorie counts. In January, it said its entire menu was “clean.”

Nevin Barich is the Food and Beverage Analyst for Industry Intelligence and is also Menuism’s fast food expert. Email him at Nevin.Barich@industryintel.com or follow him on Twitter.

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