McDonald's Small Fry Packaging Makes A Huge Difference

As the saying goes, big things come in small packages. In this case, they also come in medium and large packages, but those aren't the focus at the moment. We're talking about McDonald's fries — a delicacy so beloved that when 1,000 people were surveyed, 34% claimed them as their favorite fast food fry (via National Today). The second favorite fast food french fry, Arby's, was chosen by 13.03% of people, which goes without saying, is a sizable decrease from the number one spot.

According to Yahoo!, McDonald's used three billion pounds of potatoes in 2020. But the brand won't use just any potato — it has to pass specific guidelines to be chosen. "We only use whole potatoes, and they must meet our set of high standards related to size, shape, varietal, color, and storability," quality and supply chain executive Amy Wilcox said.

If you regularly crave these fries, you might be confused as to why you'd ever order a small size. But according to The Food Theorists on YouTube, the small package can actually be beneficial.

When The Food Theorists on YouTube conducted an experiment regarding fast food fries, they came up with some interesting results that you might find hard to believe. According to their findings, medium-sized fries are the least cost-effective, while large sizes stretch your dollar the furthest. That leaves small fries, which actually provide a good value for your money due to the bag McDonald's uses. If you can't immediately remember, small fries come in an actual bag, and medium and large fries come in a cardboard box. The shape of the box doesn't allow for optimal filling, but a suitable amount of fries can easily be placed in the small bag.

Some Reddit users believe a change is underway when it comes to McDonald's packaging. Last year, a Reddit user posted a photo of a medium-sized fry in a paper container, and it appeared to be nearly the same size of a small. "McDonald's is reducing the size of their fries, this used to be the small size," the header read. Another user disagreed, stating it was just a change of packaging. "That looks bigger than a small, like they just changed from cardboard to paper packaging," they said. 

We can't seem to find further information on this, so it's hard to say for sure if this change will be fully implemented.