A Former McDonald's Chef Reveals Why 'Popular' Menu Items Keep Disappearing

Fans of McDonald's often take to social media to wonder aloud why some of the chain's seemingly popular menu items seem to be relegated to limited-time-only status. For instance, since its discontinuation in 2016, the McDonald's snack wrap has been one of the most highly requested items, prompting a former McDonald's chef to take to TikTok to explain the long-term absence of the fan-favorite wrap and other items.

Apparently, multiple factors contributed to the beloved menu item not making a long-awaited return, including "operational complexity" due to the manpower associated with the widespread production of the meal, and the difficulty of constructing the wrap. Simply steaming the tortilla needed for the wrap reportedly took twice the time that employees needed to assemble a whole burger. The biggest contributing factor, however, seems to lie in McDonald's near certainty that it will retain its main consumer base with the original menu. Utilizing novelty additions such as the Grimace Shake simply served as a means to inspire customers to patronize their local McDonald's establishment.

The former chef claims that metrics run by the McDonald's corporation have determined that most people are willing to try these novelty items just once before returning to their usual order, providing the fast food chain with no incentive to keep the temporary offerings on the menu. Of course, many fast food fans beg to differ.

When McDonald's recently announced its latest limited-time offer, the As Featured In Meal, some fans responded on social media by demanding the return of the snack wrap. While many fans of the chain found joy in the long-running media tie-ins, others felt the promotion was a lazy method of repackaging existing meals in place of a new or returning menu item.

While the former McDonald's chef insists that McDonald's has no incentive to bring back popular menu items from discontinuation due to customers returning to their usual orders, some TikTok users pushed back against this assertion, explaining that their love and loyalty for items such as the snack wrap are so strong that they will not accept any other order in its place. One TikToker commented, "I stopped going to Mcdonald's after snack wraps were removed. I worked there for years and snack wraps did not cause disruption on the line." Others echoed the loss of interest in eating at the chain. Some took issue with the explanation of operational complexity. As one person put it, "But why have it in every other country? Canada has it. They also have all day breakfast." Meanwhile, a number of people noted that competitors like Burger King and Wendy's offered similar wraps.