McDonald’s has decided that it’s no longer a wrap on its Snack Wrap. The long-lost menu item will be making its return to the Golden Arches on July 10, after a nine-year hiatus. The McDonald’s Snack Wrap isn’t the only such hand-held menu item that’s making its way onto menus; Popeyes, for example, also launched a new chicken wrap item recently.
Bringing it Back
McDonald’s pulled the wrap from its menu in 2016 as a way to make “operational improvements,” according to an article by Restaurant Business.
However, consumers have made it clear that they sorely missed the wrap, and the fast-food giant decided to bring back the menu item, just after introducing McCrispy Strips. It would appear to be ideal timing, considering the article noted that McDonald’s prefers to use chicken fingers as the basis for their wrap.
With less-than-ideal sales, McDonald’s has been using a variety of tactics such as longer hours, marketing promotions along with new products to bring sales back up, as Restaurant Business reported.
The Wrap Resurgence
Popular chains everywhere are adding wraps to their menu, including Burger King and Wendy’s. Wraps are now a restaurant menu staple.
Consumers seek boneless, portable chicken options and wraps fit the bill.
By remixing preexisting ingredients with build-your-own appeal, major players are producing flavor-drenched “hunger hacks” and fresh affordable snacks that span dayparts.
Value is a key driver behind the momentum and wraps are affordable to make. Adding it to the menu in most cases only requires adding a flour tortilla SKU. Operators can then combine proteins (chicken is the most popular) with sauces, veggies, and other ingredients that are already a part of their inventory.
“These menu expansions reflect a shift towards offering a larger number of wrap[s], which include diverse and innovative options, catering to a wide range of customer tastes,” MenuData CEO Sunny Khamkar told The Food Institute.
Chicken’s Rise in Popularity
It seems restaurants are trying to keep up with the demand for chicken.
The recent growth of chicken chains like Wingstop and Dave’s Hot Chicken shows just how popular that form of protein has become and, according to Restaurant Business, McDonald’s now sells as much chicken as it does beef.
The top chicken chains in 2024 saw a nearly 15% sales increase, according to the Nation’s Restaurant News article, compared to just 3% for the overall industry.
Wraps, particularly chicken, are what consumers clearly demand right now – and smart restaurants will find ways to incorporate them onto their menus.
The Food Institute Podcast
Just how difficult is it to scale a better-for-you snack company? Rebecca Brady, founder and CEO of Top Seedz, shares how she turned a homegrown idea into a rapidly scaling snack brand and breaks down the strategy behind her growth, from bootstrapping production to landing national retail partnerships.
