McDonald’s is considering a sweeping '$8.5 billion' 'McDonald’s Next' overhaul over the next decade as it shifts toward smaller, more flexible portions and a menu built around protein-first consumers and GLP-1 users.
The company has already started moving. In April, McDonald’s added protein callouts in its app and restaurant kiosks for 17 menu items. It says it now has more than 30 menu items with at least 15 grams of protein.
Chris Kempczinski said in a CNBC interview that the company wants its menu to reflect where it thinks the customer is heading. At investor day in September, Skye Anderson said roughly 30 million Americans are using GLP-1 drugs, while McDonald’s own research found about 60 million more Americans are actively looking for more protein in their diets.
The chain says the opportunity goes beyond weight-loss medication. It said 84% of households with a GLP-1 user visit McDonald’s, and Anderson said those households are choosing items with more protein and greater control over portion size.
The broader market is moving the same way. Circana found GLP-1 users are changing what they order more than how often they eat out, cutting the average number of items per visit by about 1% while shifting away from sides, snacks and breads. It also found 63% of GLP-1 users were looking for more vegetables and 55% were seeking more fruit.
The National Restaurant Association reported that GLP-1 users averaged 7.6 restaurant purchases in the week before the survey, compared with 5.1 among non-users. Nearly half said they reduced how often they dined out after starting GLP-1 treatment.
The numbers come first. McDonald’s is reading a simple message from the market: free enterprise follows appetite, and appetite is changing. Capital rewards clear rules, and the biggest winners are likely to be the chains that adapt fastest to health-conscious consumers instead of defending an old supersized model.
For investors, that means the real story is not nostalgia for the old menu. It is leverage, margins and demand. When a company with McDonald’s scale starts reworking portions and protein content, the rest of the food industry has to decide whether it will lead the change or be priced by it.
