McDonald’s (MCD) is bringing the Snack Wrap back to its menu for the first time since 2016. The move is a bid to get consumers to return to restaurants as McDonald’s works to stem a decline in same-store sales at its US restaurants.
The fast food giant needs to reverse its recent sales slump as low-income consumers pull back due to heightened anxiety and after an E. coli outbreak that began in October 2024 dampened foot traffic.
“The Snack Wrap is back,” McDonald’s US President Joe Erlinger said in a video posted on snackwrapfiles.com in a bid to tap into its core customer. “It’s because you’ve sounded off. We’ve heard you.” It will return to menus permanently on July 10.
US same-store sales growth at McDonald’s declined 3.6% in the first quarter, the second consecutive quarter of declines after the company posted a 1.4% drop in the fourth quarter.
To entice the consumer with low prices, it launched the McValue platform in early January, but consumers remained on the sidelines.
“Geopolitical tensions added to the economic uncertainty and dampened consumer sentiment more than we expected,” CEO Christopher Kempczinski told investors. High-income cohorts remained “solid” but traffic among low- and middle-income consumers fell.
“Low- and middle-income consumers … are being weighed down,” he said, “by the cumulative impact of inflation and heightened anxiety about the economic outlook.”
When the company originally hinted at the return of snack wraps back in December 2024, Jefferies analyst Andy Barish told Yahoo Finance he suspects it will help regain some lost momentum.
“Snack wraps returning in 2025 … [will] allow McDonald’s to regain what we saw, to some extent, in October before the food-borne illness situation,” Barish said, “which is nicely positive, same store sales and positive traffic.”
Chicken is also a key selling point as it gains popularity among fast food players, outpacing the growth of beef.
Year to date, shares of McDonald’s are up more than 6.8%, outpacing the S&P 500’s (^GSPC) 1.2% gain and slightly outpacing peer Yum! Brands (YUM), which is up 6.3% but trails behind Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International (QSR).
Brooke DiPalma is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.
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