The Classic is at the heart of the new range of burgers, in UK restaurants from today.
McDonald’s will pilot a new range of premium burgers in the UK ahead of a nationwide launch next year, designed to boost the fast food retailer’s gourmet offering.
Its Signature Collection features three thick burgers that will “offer something entirely new to customers”, and will debut in 28 McDonald’s restaurants in London and the South of England from today. It is then set to become a permanent menu item in around 400 restaurants around the UK from next summer as part of Experience of the Future, a programme of refurbishment and transformation designed to enhance the company’s menu and service offering throughout the country, which has led to the introduction of new kitchen technologies and improved restaurant layouts.
Made using only British and Irish beef, the range is available in three different flavours: the Classic, topped with two rashers of beechwood-smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, wholegrain mustard mayonnaise, ketchup, Batavia lettuce and red onion; the BBQ, which features barbecue sauce, coleslaw, red onion, lettuce, smoked bacon and cheddar cheese; plus the Spicy, which combines jalapeño slices with Pepper Jack cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise and a spicy relish – all in a brioche-style bun.
The collection has been created spefically to meet consumer expectation of premium burgers – drawing on higher quality ingredients and fresh preparation. The collection was developed by McDonald’s in-house food specialists and Chefs Council, a team of chefs with a wide range of experience from cooking in Michelin starred restaurants to catering for international royalty.
Duncan Cruttended, McDonald’s UK food development director, said: “At McDonald’s we are committed to listening to our customers and evolving our menu to offer something for everyone. When the Chefs Council started to develop this new premium offering, we worked with a brief generated by our customers – they told us they wanted thicker beef patties, high quality ingredients and freshly prepared. We’ve crafted a range that is a truly exciting permanent addition to our menu – every product has to earn a place on our menu and our customers have told us the Signature Collection has done just that.”
The new burgers will be served in new stylish black packaging, McDonald’s said, with fries served in matching cartons. Each Signature Collection burger will be priced at around £4.69, with meals costing roughly £6.19.
McDonald’s has suggested that a successful pilot could soon be followed by the possibility to customise its classic burgers, as well as ordering and payment options through smartphone. “Customers in some restaurants will also be able to enjoy interactive table-top games whilst they share a meal and even charge their smartphones using wireless charging devices,” the company revealed.
The move could mark a slight shift away from McDonald’s traditional service model and provide competition to the emergence of artisan and premium burger chains such as Five Guys and Prime Burger, which earlier this year opened a new outlet as part of St Pancras International’s mezzanine-level food court.
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