McDonald’s is planning a targeted roll-out of all-day breakfast menus, according to a new report from CNBC. Within the next couple of months, testing will begin to measure the profitability of allowing consumers to toss back a Sausage Egg McMuffin at seven in the evening.
As William Foster famously discovered, rules about when breakfast can be ordered tend to be fixed. While McDonald’s has historically argued that kitchen space limitations (and potentially the wrath of God) prevent it from serving all-day breakfast, Janney Capital Markets is quick to point out the obvious benefits for their client. Janney notes, “We believe customers generally want to see McDonald’s offer breakfast items all day.” Of course, that may just be another way of saying that customers generally want to get meat served in a flaky croissant, rather than a damp, forlorn hamburger bun.
The plan comes as McDonald’s faces pressure from Taco Bell’s breakfast menu after launching its own breakfast offensive last year. To stay competitive, McDonald’s has been touting key differentiators like fresh coffee and eggs that are cracked on premise, bringing the personal touch that only local underpaid minimum-wage labor can provide. If U.S. market tests are successful, McDonald’s could see itself cornering a much broader breakfast market, including late-shift workers, business travelers, french toast-stick fanatics, and drunks who can’t get their shit together until the early afternoon.