Kids could soon get their own all-day breakfast at McDonald’s.
The Oak Brook, Ill.-based chain is testing a breakfast Happy Meal starting next week in its 73-unit Tulsa, Okla., market, McDonald’s confirmed Friday. USA Today first reported the test.
The All Day Breakfast Happy Meal gives kids two breakfast entrees to choose from: two McGriddle cakes — the cakes used for McDonald’s popular McGriddle sandwiches — or an egg-and-cheese McMuffin.
If the test proves successful in Tulsa, McDonald’s spokeswoman Becca Hary said the breakfast Happy Meal could go national next year.
McDonald’s has made a number of changes to the Happy Meal in recent years, adding fruit options like apple slices or Cuties clementines, along with yogurt and smaller servings of fries.
But new entrées have been rare. Hary said this would be the first time McDonald’s has added a new entrée to its Happy Meal in more than 30 years.
The test merges McDonald’s most important consumers — families — with its most important daypart — breakfast.
All-day breakfast has helped generate positive same-store sales at McDonald’s in the past three quarters. The chain has recently doubled down on the expansion, adding biscuits to the all-day menu nationwide, as well as McGriddles.
Families with kids are a vital part of McDonald’s sales. The data research firm Sense360 has estimated that 14.6 percent of the chain’s customers order Happy Meals, generating $10 million in revenue per day. But the true impact is likely much bigger: Kids typically come with parents who order food themselves.
Both items in the test are not full versions. The McMuffin comes without Canadian bacon, while the McGriddle cakes come without egg or sausage. That cuts calories from both sandwiches, which fits with the chain’s move to offer more healthful options in Happy Meals.
Contact Jonathan Maze at [email protected]
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