Will The McD Double Cheeseburger Lose Its Cheese? Or Go Off The Dollar Menu Completely?
The fate of the $1 double cheeseburger seems sealed. McDonald's has already announced that it will be looking for ways to cut costs or increase revenue from the popular dollar menu item -- even if it means taking the double cheeseburger off the menu completely. Now the Wall Street Journal says that McDonald's is testing different versions of the burger, and that it may lose some or all of its cheese.
In an interview, Don Thompson, president of McDonald's U.S. business, said the company has tested ways to make the burger less expensive to make. Some restaurants are selling it with one slice of cheese instead of two, and billing it as a "double hamburger with cheese." Others are offering a double hamburger without cheese. Some are selling the traditional double cheeseburger at prices ranging from $1.09 to $1.19.
Will you eat a cheeseless Double Cheeseburger?
McDonald's Tests Changes
In $1 Burger As Costs Rise [WSJ] (Thanks, Orlando!)
(Photo: Paxton Holley )
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cheeseless cheeseburger = hamburger.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when I order a hamburger at a restaurant and I'm asked, "would you like cheese on it?" If I want cheese on it, I'll order a cheeseburger!
Sometimes I request double cheeseburgers without cheese and get confused looks, so I'm totally in favor of the double hamburger on the dollar menu.
At least they're being straightforward about it.
If McDonalds switched to soy products instead of '100% beef' they could save even more money. It's not like their taste isn't manufactured in New Jersey already; most of their customers wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Typically, the McD's double-cheesburger is my fast-food fix and coming in at $1 is pretty sweet. I've always wondered why they sell them so cheap so this isn't a surprise.
I believe BK's are either $1.49 or $1.89, depending on location.
One of the stores in downtown Atlanta (Peachtree Center) sells it for over $2, and has for quite some time.
Darn it Someone beet me to the punch. I sent this tip in 15 minutes ago, Should have sent it in this morning, heres hoping my other tip gets picked up!
As for the topic, If they were to do any changing around I would ask they just make the regular cheese burger a $1 and raise the price for the double to 1.25 or 1.50, rather than messing around with such things as "Double hamburger with cheese".
A burger without cheese is like a day without sunshine. Sure, they exist, but what's the point?
"Will you eat a cheeseless Double Cheeseburger?"
To me the double cheese is the glorious gloop that makes the Double Cheeseburger so great. I'd more likely order a dollar burger with a single patty of meat with two slices of cheese (top and bottom) than a double patty burger with no cheese.
first they lose the $1 chicken biscuit. now the double cheesburger. guess im switching to wendy's. ill save .01 anyway.
Aside from the fact that I don't eat at McDonald's ever, it does cross my mind to ask when companies are going to stop making consumers pay for lost profits. McDonald's loses some money because the cost of materials goes up, but that doesn't mean they're in the red. They're still making ridiculous profits, just a little less so than before. As unacceptable as less profits is, they feel the need to make customers pay more (or lower the quality of the food even more, which would almost seem to be impossible) to maintain gross levels of profits.
... The same thing could be said about the oil industry, but that's neither here nor there...
Would they really do this from a marketing standpoint? I bet they will find a way to still call it a "Double Cheeseburger" while reducing the size of it overall. Beef quantity will decrease, along with bun size and amount of toppings. Ketchup as extra?
Here's how retarded the MD's in my area is...
double cheese burger- $1
regular cheeseburger- $.99
WTF?
I voted for the more expensive double cheeseburger, but I'd also approve of a $1 double hamburger with a single slice of cheese.
Of course, this fails to consider that the dollar-menu co-habitator McChicken is my new crack, thereby rendering the point rather moot.
It's crucial that the double cheeseburger stays under $1, even if that means it loses the cheese, buns and meat.
Knowing the crook of a franchisee we have here, it'll be $1.99 and cheeseless.
I voted no cheese, since I don't really need to be eating them anyway,
@snoop-blog: That pricing is about the same at pretty much every MCdonalds I have been to from Michigan to East Coast. from 95 - 99 Cents for the regular or basically get two cheeseburgers for $1. It always boggled my mind.
Hasn't this been on their dollar menu for like 10 years already? Prices go up, and I thought they were always losing money on the double cheeseburger.
@meg9: The are not losing any money on the double cheeseburger, I'm sure of it. They just aren't making as much as they used to on it.
Testing ways to make the burger less expensive, eh?
Maybe they can stretch the definition of "100% beef" to include the less beefy parts of the cow.
I certainly do not want cost-cutting when it comes to food. The extra 25 to 50 cents for the dbl cheezburger shouldn't put anyone out.
I went to try some double cheeseburgers thanks to that other consumerist post. Not too bad for $1, I think one slice of cheese won't make it too different.
I had my first double cheesburger in about 2 years last week....oy...I think I lost about 3 lbs that night....
Wendy's got rid of the dollar menu, they have a "Value Menu" and all the good food is about $1.20
"I thought they were always losing money on the double cheeseburger."
Until recently, the dollar menu was a huge source of profit for McDonalds. Here's an article from 2006 about it.
The enormous success of the Dollar Menu, where all items cost $1, has helped stimulate 36 consecutive months of sales growth at stores open at least a year. In three years, revenue has increased by 33 percent and its shares have rocketed 170 percent, a remarkable turnaround for a company that only four years ago seemed to be going nowhere.
@Tmoney02: Not only is the double / single cheeseburger pricing off, but they've always failed at McNugget math, too.
I used to work retail across the street from a McDonald's and we'd often pool cash and send one person over for food. A 4-piece McNuggets was on the dollar menu, but a 6-piece was $1.89. So 12 McNuggets from the dollar menu = $3, but two 6-piece = almost $4.
Im still angry that the McDonalds near my office doesn't honor the 2 for $3 chicken biscuit deal, and charges more. It's ridiculous
@kaptainkk: I am pretty sure they are losing money on it, especially if you paid by credit card. They sell the burgers for cheap but hope you buy a drink and fries (where all the profit is) that would more than offset their loss. Now with costs going up they can't continue to absorb the cost of those people who buy only a bunch of burgers.
@EtoilePB: They must promote from within. Okay a low blow I know, but I am a former mcd's worker so it's ok.
@coren: not anymore- all of their drinks are now $1, no matter what size you order. I actually like it. If I want a #2, but only want a large drink (not large fries also) I can upgrade for no extra charge. But now that drinks are $1, what will they use to make their money back with?
Double hamburger would be fine by me. I'm OK with a single slice of cheese too. I generally try to avoid McDonalds since leaving college anyways, but a buck is still a nice price point.
Wouldn't surprise me to see them eventually go the way of Wendy's and have the "value menu" where it's $1.29 or $1.39 or some other number ending in nine but starting with one.
@GMFish: Keep in mind that a lot of the hot sellers on said dollar menu are things like fries and drinks where mcdonalds makes tons of money, more than enough to offset a loss on a sandwich. Nevermind the bad consumer who gets the big drink instead of refilling their small a few times (ME).
@shoelace414: Must be regional - I can still get a double stack/snack attack, Jr Bacon, Jr Cheeseburger, fries, frosty, small drink - all for .99 each
1 slice of cheese means a little less fat, which I'm in favor of, for those times when I simply cannot resist McD's.
Cut out the meat, and they might have something.
@howie_in_az: True, they would save money by not having to pay any overhead after all their restaurants went out of business.
Coren: "They are, they usually make it back in spades on whatever drink you buy."
Not true, read my comment above. The Dollar Menu was in and of itself highly profitable. Here's another quote from the article.
McDonald's has attracted considerable attention in the last few years for introducing to its menu healthy food items like salads and fruit. Yet its turnaround has come not from greater sales of healthy foods but from selling more fast-food basics, like double cheeseburgers and fried chicken sandwiches, from the Dollar Menu.
@coren: they still have a mcchicken sandwich on a bun. but since the new southernstyle chicken came out, they wont put the mcchicken on a biscuit anymore.
@snoop-blog: True enough, but I think that's a limited time promotion/for the summer. And if I hear that guy making noises about his food commercial one more time, the radio is going through their drivethrough window.
@snoop-blog: Where I worked, the cheeseburger was $1.09. People would come in and ask for "Double cheeseburger, lite meat" to save $0.09.
Coren: "more than enough to offset a loss on a sandwich."
Once again, read the article. It specifically says that the double cheese burger is profitable.
@fostina1: Huh, I didn't know they did that - then again, I've always been a fan of getting lettuce and special sauce on my doublecheeseburger - slightly healthier big mac!
@GMFish: The article doesn't specifically say which items are profitable - rather that the menu itself drives profits. Look at the example of the girls who came in - buying fries and icecream too. Both of which are huge profit bringers for fast food.
Why don't they just shrink ray them? Wendy's has done this with their value burgers.
@howie_in_az: I want to believe you -- I loves me some Morningstar Farm Grillers -- but a pound of ground beef can be had for three bucks at the supermarket while my Grillers are at least a buck each for a two-ounce patty. Or am I just getting jobbed by Big Ag?
I say keep it on the dollar menu and up the price of sodas 10 cents.
I always figured items on the dollar menu were considered loss leaders. They might lose a little money on the double cheeseburger, but they'd make up for it on your $1.79 soda or large fries.
Although if they only made the mcRib a full time menu item the profits from that would more than offset whatever losses from the dollar menu...
Coren, "The article doesn't specifically say which items are profitable"
Once again, yes it does. I even italicized the relevant the portion for you up above. Here it is yet again:
Yet its turnaround has come not from greater sales of healthy foods but from selling more fast-food basics, like double cheeseburgers and fried chicken sandwiches, from the Dollar Menu.
In other words, back in 2006 McDonalds turned itself around to profitably by "selling... double cheeseburgers... from the Dollar Menu." The article does not say anything about the Dollar Menu subsidizing more expensive items. Which is your argument. I don't know why we're even arguing about this. Why do you have a vested interesting in being wrong? It makes no sense.
Why don't they just make it a double burger with cheese. Cutting it down to one slice would save a good chunk of cash.