An anonymous tipster whom we’ll call Deep Oat forwarded us a shot of this memo, which reveals that McDonald’s — at least in Indiana — is readying oatmeal servings at $2 a pop.
From Deep Oat:
Here is a photo I grabbed while upgrading a McDonalds WiFi out here in northern Indiana. Looks like oatmeal is coming! And at .22 cents per serving cost (not including labor and overhead).
The memo said an oatmeal-promoting ad campaign is set to launch Jan. 3. In the main version of the dish, the maple brown sugar oatmeal will be mixed with cream, diced apples, cranberries and raisins. Most of those things seem far too healthy to be fast food ingredients.
Would the prospect of McDonald’s oatmeal tempt you away from sausage biscuits and hash browns?
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In before someone bitches about the markup without considering the other costs.
If the real cost of the oatmeal is just above one fifth of a penny, that’s quite a markup.
Um…they’ve been advertising this for months in the DC area…
First I’ve heard of it – if they weren’t doing TV commercials, and I didn’t notice them as TiVo fastforwarded, I wouldn’t have known.
Consumerist already kind of covered it months ago: http://consumerist.com/2010/07/mcdonalds-puts-mac-snack-wraps-out-of-their-misery.html
Yeah, I’ve actually eaten it a couple of times. It’s not a bad alternative, if you don’t want all the grease that everything else has.
I thought this was already nationwide.
I wish they would bring the Pizza McPuff to the US. That is the best thing I have ever had from any McDonalds in the world. Sadly, as far as I know, it is only available in India.
When I was in colllege they had McPizza at our local McD’s. Or whatever they called it…
…it was basically the same thing as a personal-sized microwave pizza you would buy at a grocery store from the frozen section. It was OK, I guess…but it was no substitute for an actual pizza from an actual pizza place – even Domino’s.
The full size pizzas that required modifying the drive-thru windows were much better. So sad they don’t make Pimma any more (those who remember the McPizza know why it’s called Pimma).
Yeah … I remember it was kind of a stupid logo, too …
… and it wasn’t all that, either, as far as pizza is concerned
I remember the full size pizzas. What I never figured out was why the McDonalds that was out in BFE in AZ was picked as a test store.
Oh yes, I remember those McPizzas (and yes, why it’s a Pimma). At the time, McDogfood declared that they were Canada’s largest pizza chain due to the fact they were serving these frisbees coated with minuscule pieces of meat and cheese. Small wonder why the McPizza quietly disappeared off the menu a year later. Though there was a side benefit to their McPizza experiment: the convection ovens they put in all the restaurants made their apple pies taste a sh*tload better!
I know “pizza” but am confused about the “McPuff” part. Do tell.
This is the best thing since sliced bread! It is the same size and shape of the apple pies we get here, but filled with all the Indian spice goodness fused with all the pizza goodness.
Here is a good description of it that I found on http://nadeembana.blogspot.com/
“Pizza McPuff
The McDonald’s in India’s vegetarian Pizza McPuff â„¢ is another favorite of mine. It also starts with a rectangular shaped crust, but instead of a creamy sauce is flavored with a tomato-based sauce and then is topped with carrots, beans, bell peppers, onions, peas and mozzarella cheese.”
I could do without the cream, cranberries and raisins, but a sprinkle of pecans would win me over. I like oatmeal. And depending on the size, the price is comparable to other places I buy it from the menu.
Find Better Oats in your super market. The brand “Better Oats.” They’re cheap as dirt and taste like heaven. You’ll never go back.
But homemade oatmeal takes too long to make. Especially if you use raw steel cut oats
I use a slow cooker to cook them overnight.
sounds goood. i can do without the cream.
Same here. I prefer dairy-free as much as possible.
That may not be “dairy cream”, if you know what I mean….
An alien logging on to this website to do research on the human race would get the impression that we all live on cheap fast-food meals and almost never consume any food at home, unless it’s delivered, or at least pre-cooked.
Just sayin…
lol good point.
But “last night I made an amazing carpese salad at home, maybe having it tomorrow” wouldn’t be a very good consumerist news story.
…and said alien wouldn’t be predisposed with any bias that not eating home-made meals is a bad thing.
Just sayin’.
And that we get abused on our receipts when purchasing said meals.
Said alien wouldn’t be that far off the mark…fast food companies make a ton of money and there’s a reason most of the grocery store is comprised of items that come in a box and has a shelf life of >2 years.
so, you’re saying we should avoid fast food b/c the aliens might compromise the supply chain & use it against us?
sounds like the most rational reason to avoid fast food that i’ve ever heard. much more believable than all that “it makes you a fattie” nonsense.
No, you fool! We can use our fast food against the alien invaders! The more disgruntled fast food employees we have spitting in the food, the more we can pass on our diseases to the aliens! When they come through the drive through on their way to obliterating us!
Just like War of the Worlds, but with cheeseburgers!
They have been advertising that here in the DC area for months.
But what does Captain Duvall Moneycat think of it?
Bravo to you, you must have hit ‘submit’ faster… He, of all things purry, shall be the final authority.
I gotta take issue with that math:
The Oatmeal itself is about 22 cents, the toppings another 20 cents (either apples or rasins/cranberries), the cup and lid another 10 cents or so, and the nutrition label for a penny. That’s a hair over fifty cents per actual sold serving.
honestly, I’m surprised it took mcdonalds this long to realize what a cash cow this is. Also, there isn’t really any good reason for me to hate that mcdonald’s is doing this – hey, if you’re too lazy to put some instant oatmeal in the microwave, you have every right to blow a couple bucks – but I can’t stand it anyways. I think it’s the way they McDonaldize everything, similar to what disney does, in a mega-saccharin pseudo-wholesome fashion, like an evil clown cackling behind the scene, gorging himself on billions in profits.
I already hate instant microwave oatmeal – I can’t imagine that McD’s will improve it in any way and you know they’re not gonna make REAL oatmeal every morning cuz that’s just not how they do things.
Eleven comments and I am the first to reference Captain Duvel Moneycat’s inappropriate love of all things oatmeal?
A taste test is scheduled?
http://consumerist.com/2008/09/starbucks-new-perfect-oatmeal-loved-by-cat.html
Sounds good to me, can I get it with BACON?
You consider cream healthy? Clearly you’ve never read it’s nutritional label.
I make my own delicious oatmeal at home.
To be the first to answer Phil’s question. No.
The only time I get fast food breakfasts are when I am on the way to an early morning appointment and going to eat in the car.
A sausage bagel sandwich (no egg, I HATE what fast food “eggs” taste like), can be eaten on the run in the car. A bowl of oatmeal? I have seen similar eaten in the car, but that is way to far over the line of what I can do while driving.
You be surprised what I can do while driving if I have one hand free.
Please, we don’t really need to know.
Good for them. Fruit and fiber. If only they would serve grits and sausage like Krystal does.
“deap oat” . that’s funny.
Oh yum. I would so buy that for breakfast.
Oatmeal texture at a fast food place probably would be gross. Too little water or too much cooking, and it’s sticky and unappetizing. Too much water, and it is soup. Give me packs of instant and hot water instead of prepared.
My bet is that they’ll be microwaving it too, which always results in thick, pasty, nasty oatmeal.
Starbucks does a good job on it, which is what they’re imitating now…
However, I’ve not heard anything great about this version.
Bleah, Starbucks oatmeal is worse than instant oatmeal I prepare myself — because it *is* instant, but they often don’t stir it thoroughly so there are dry spots.
If you want good fast-food oatmeal try Jamba Juice oatmeal – it’s real cooked steel cut oats. And of course they load it with lots of sugar which adds to the appeal (if not to the nutrition).
Who knows? But I will use the coupon they mailed me for a free McOatmeal and see if it’s any good.
I’ve had it. Entirely mediocre. But still much better than the half-raw McMuffin I got last time I tried their breakfast sandwiches. Ugh.
It’s been around for months here (near D.C.) Didn’t realize we were a test market. So. Many. Radio. Ads. “I’m an oatmeal guy. A McDonald’s Fruit and Maple Oatmeal Guy.” Why is precious space in my brain taken up with this information?
I’m amazed- a McD’s breakfast item that’s not deep fried or pure sugar! I might actually start eating breakfast at McDonald’s if they launch this in my area.
Its in Canada for around $1.30
Great, ANOTHER menu item NOBODY goes to McDonald’s for. They can’t even have freakin’ Hamburgers and fries ready when you go there, and now they have another useless item to worry about. Morons
Teah, it’s like those stupid premium coffes’s they sell that every time I go in, the person in front of me gets one and it takes 5 minutes t make.
Actually, it has been available for months in the DC area.
1 – It’s delicious. I get it all the time.
2 – I will place the blame on the deliciousness being tempered by cold due to people whinging about their hot products being hot. Basically, you have a small window in which to enjoy the deliciousness before it does what oatmeal does when it goes cold: Congeals into a barely edible mass of semi hardened concrete paste.
3 – There have been inconsistencies in how I’ve gotten said oatmeal. Sometimes you get the oatmeal, maple, hot water combined, and then a packet of the fruit to go with. Other times you get the whole lot pre-mixed for your convenience.
When I first read the headline, I thought it said McOmlet – which I thought… Yum… that sounds good.
McOatmeal…. Um… naaa.. if I’m going to go to McDonalds for Breakfast, I at least want something good.
Ha! Again McDonald’s is copying Tim Horton’s!
Well, by again, I mean that they brought in breakfast biscuits to Canada finally after Tim Horton’s did. And they were better. Then Tim’s did oatmeal, and now they are. And probably doing it better. in your face Timmie’s. Your doughnuts are so bad.
McDonalds in the UK have had Oatso Simple Porridge oats on their menu for years.
Two Words that will change your breakfast forever: BETTER OATS.
Find them, its the best oatmeal I’ve ever eaten.
But homemade oats take way too long to make. Especially if you start with raw steelcut oats. I dont want to spend more than 3 minutes waiting for breakfast
They’re not talking about steel cut oats. Better Oats is a brand name of instant oatmeal. Very good instant oatmeal.
The fruit and maple oatmeal has been around in DC and NJ for quite some time. I do not know if they were test markets, but I have been enjoying their oatmeal for over a year.
Full disclosure: The oatmeal is THE ONLY thing from McD’s that I will eat. I used to eat their Asian salad, but the bastards took it off the menu. Apparently, I was the only one eating it.
Deep Oat is employing the Verizon Math calculation method. The oatmeal costs either 22 cents or $0.22, but .22 cents would make for one hell of a profit margin.
Joel
With, but not instead of.
At least it’s another meatless option & it isn’t greasy. Too bad about the cream, though…it would be nice if that were an option instead of (probably) already mixed in.
Awesome!
I didn’t know this wasn’t standard: The McDonalds near me in Gaithersburg, MD has had this for some time. So many times when I’ve been forced into fast food due to my morning schedule, It’s been a relief to pick up oatmeal on the go.
And, unlike I was expecting, I really enjoyed it.
I know this sounds like a McDonalds schill talking, but I’m only even commenting because if McDonalds can surprise me in a happy way, it’s worth (consumerist’s) home about.
It’s easier to make Quaker oatmeal at home than to get it through the drive through. It’s not as easy to make a McGriddle at home (absolutely possible, but takes more effort than a simple bowl of oatmeal). I’d never buy it, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work. More power to them to get people to eat a little healthier in the morning.
Where have you been? They’ve been hawking this crap for months in the northeast.
Worse, it’s on that damn auto-announce thing in a disgustingly chipper voice – and they serve it ALL DAY.
No, I don’t want your berries and puke crap…LOL. Especially after it’s been sitting all day, since obviously no one else does either.
I got free oatmeal coupons in the Sunday paper before thanksgiving.
Good at any San Antonio area McD’s starting Dec 24th.
McDonalds’ breakfast food (not sandwiches) is actually pretty good. Their coffee is good and cheap, their breakfast plates (Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes) are good and this seems to have potential. Too bad their other food is awful.
I’m another DC-area customer who has had it and thinks it’s pretty good. I mostly eat it when my husband really wants a fast food breakfast–it is a much healthier alternative to what he eats and he can still get his fast food.
My McDonald’s in VA is actually pretty good about getting it to me at the right temperature, too. It’s a good addition to the menu.
I would definitely try it. I would prefer to eat something from McDonalds that doesnt make my stomach turn.
I live in WA, and I received coupons for a free bowl saying that you can get the oatmeal starting on Dec. 24th, and I can try one bowl for free. I am actually looking forward to trying this menu item!