McDonald's Corp, the world's largest hamburger-restaurant chain, plans to offer low-carbohydrate versions of its sandwiches and will introduce a new salad in an effort to attract more customers who want to eat healthier foods.
The company also plans to test five or six new products next year, including chicken flatbread and deli sandwiches, McDonald's USA president Michael Roberts said at a New York meeting with analysts and investors.
McDonald's will start selling low-carbohydrate sandwiches in the next two months and a salad with beef and Newman's Own salsa dressing later this year. Chief executive James Cantalupo's focus on improving food quality has led to 11 straight months of sales gains as it takes business from No. 2 Burger King Corp, which is planning to sell low-carbohydrate Whoppers without the bun.
"Their goals are reasonable," said Peter Goldman, who helps manage US$1 billion at Chicago Asset Management, including McDonald's shares.
McDonald's also will offer chicken breast strips this year and introduce a new salad menu in 16 European countries, starting in the UK and Germany, said Russell Smyth, president of the company's European unit.
Shares of McDonald's fell US$0.54 to US$29.31 at 4:16pm in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have more than doubled in the past year.
On Friday, McDonald's said US sales rose 20 percent in February, the biggest increase since the 1970s. Comparable sales in Europe rose 7.7 percent last month.
Cantalupo, 60, who was brought out of retirement last January to replace Jack Greenberg, helped reverse a more-than-yearlong decline in sales in the US. He halted an expansion strategy that franchisees said had hurt sales at existing restaurants.
"While I'm pleased with our performance, I know we have more work to do," Cantalupo said at the meeting.
The company will spend US$725 million this year to remodel restaurants and replace equipment, chief financial officer Matthew Paull said.
McDonald's boosted the average number of customers who visit its US restaurants each day by 1.4 million, Roberts said. The company plans to increase the number of 24-hour restaurants it operates from about 12 percent.
McDonald's will make a decision on what it will do with its remaining non-hamburger brands, including Chipotle Mexican Grill and Boston Market, "down the road a bit," Cantalupo said at the meeting.
In December the company said it planned to sell its 182 Donatos Pizzeria restaurants back to their founder and abandoned plans to develop Italian restaurants with the Fazoli's chain.
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