Crain’s Business Chicago: McDonald’s to Phase Out All-Day Breakfast

As the foodservice industry continues to endure the worst of the economic fallout from the Coronavirus crisis, restaurants are experimenting with a range of new operations to maintain their customer bases and scale back spending. This week, the world’s largest restaurant operator, McDonald’s, announced its own significant customer-facing adjustment: suspending all-day breakfast.

According to an article in Crain’s Chicago Business, the iconic quick-service franchise is temporarily phasing out all-day breakfast at all of its restaurants in an attempt to streamline kitchen operations and increase drive-thru efficiency. 

McDonald’s introduced all-day breakfast just five years ago, but according to Crain’s, the popular offering has not provided the boon for restaurants the franchise hoped for.

Ex-CEO Steve Easterbrook introduced all-day breakfast in 2015 to jump-start sales. The move worked at first, but the benefits of that move have plateaued. Still, McDonald's sees breakfast as a key growth area and launched two new breakfast chicken offerings this year.

McDonald’s has not shut down U.S. restaurants in response to the Coronavirus crisis, even in cities where dine-in service is prohibited, but the franchise has temporarily shuttered all of its stores in France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, among other international markets.

Read the full article at CrainsBusiness.com.