McDonald‘s has announced its decision to shut down the CosMc’s restaurant concept by the end of June. Only five places are still operating today. The mighty fast-food giant will be retreating from its app-driven, overly complex dining experience in the near future to make things more convenient. This decision is notable not only because CosMc is doing great in a booming $100 billion casual dining space. This sector is leading the charge compared to other sectors across industry.
Home of the CosMc concept, it serves up space to a new generation of fast casual diners. It’s known for its dynamic menu filled with eclectic concoctions like a matcha iced latte, a turmeric spiced latte, and a bright pink prickly pear-flavored slushy crowned with popping candy. On top of that, shoppers will be able to pick up a frozen sour cherry vitality drink. These products were developed to meet the growing demand for convenient, better-for-you products and consumers’ growing taste for novelty and adventure in their drinks.
As cool as CosMc’s offerings may be, the biggest challenge McDonald’s will face is melding these drinks into their current ops. It’s not easy adding special beverages to standard McDonald’s lineups. This complexity might limit the company’s capacity to produce these drinks at scale. Similarly, McDonald’s will test other space-inspired beverages based on the CosMc menu at limited U.S. locations. This new initiative is intended to measure customer demand and assess market feasibility.
Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s CEO, highlighted the potential of the casual dining category when discussing the decision to focus on CosMc’s beverages.
“This is a $100 billion category that’s growing faster than the rest of (casual dining) and with superior margins. And it’s a space that we believe we have the right to win.” – Chris Kempczinski
McDonald’s overall is moving in the opposite direction from the CosMc brand. They hope to take advantage of the booming casual dining market by launching new drinks in line with what consumers are looking for today. This strategic pivot is necessary as the company looks to stay competitive in a rapidly changing market.
