Topline
The fan-favorite Snack Wrap from McDonald’s—which disappeared off of most menus almost a decade ago—is making a comeback, returning as an option for customers in 2025.
McDonald’s chicken wraps in 2008.
Key Facts
McDonald’s President Joe Erlinger on Thursday told “Good Morning America” the item, which contained different varieties of chicken, lettuce and cheese wrapped in a warm tortilla, will come back next year after years of petitioning by fans.
Erlinger said the Snack Wrap has a “cult following” and he gets “so many emails into my inbox about this product,” but wouldn’t specify exactly when next year it will make its comeback.
Snack Wraps variations still available on international menus include spicy veggie and grilled and crispy chicken versions of sweet chili, BBQ and bacon and Caesar and bacon flavors.
Since the Snack Wrap was removed from most menus in 2016, fans have launched an intermittent yet dedicated campaign to bring it back that included dozens of petitions—including one signed by more than 18,800 people, and a social media campaign that saw the official Slim Jim account ask about the item.
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Surprising Fact
Snack Wrap fans asked rapper Doja Cat to join their cause after a video she made about the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza led the fast food chain to put the item back on the menu (and put her in a Super Bowl ad).
Key Background
Snack Wraps first launched in 2006 and later became available with beef protein options as well as chicken. The initial McDonald’s marketing campaign for the product included supermodel Heidi Klum. The beef versions of the Snack Wrap were dropped in 2013 and the original Snack Wrap was removed from most menus in 2016 (all individual franchises that originally held onto the item had ditched it by 2020). The menu items were removed in part because they didn’t sell as well as the company hoped, according to Business Insider, and partially because they took too long to make. Franchisees complained about the time it took to steam the tortilla, chop the chicken and stuff the wraps, which were sold in nine varieties. The complex item doubled the amount of time corporate policy allotted for serving each customer, and consistency, “was a nightmare,” one manager told Bloomberg.
uper model Heidi Klum poses with three new designed McDonald’s chicken wraps during a press … [+]
What Other Mcdonald’s Menu Items Have Returned?
McDonald’s is no stranger to bringing back axed items by popular demand. It was announced the McRib, for example, a barbecue-flavored pork sandwich, would be discontinued in 2005 but several “McRib Farewell Tours” kept it on the menu until 2008. The item made intermittent returns for special events like the 2012 London Olympics, and McDonald’s announced it would be returning nationwide again in 2020. It has come back seasonally since. In 2022, the fast food giant brought back—for a limited time—the Cheese Danish, a menu item that hadn’t been seen since the 1980s. McDonald’s this year said it would bring back its holiday pie, which first debuted in 1999 as a promotional item for the film “Toy Story 2.” The fan-favorite dessert is made of a custard inside a crust that is then glazed with sugar and topped with rainbow sprinkles, and it’s available for a limited time in markets like Seattle, Los Angeles, St. Louis, New York City, Cleveland and Dallas.
Big Number
Roughly 14,300. That’s how many restaurants McDonald’s has in the United States. The chain has 36,500 restaurants in more than 100 countries.
Tangent
Erlinger also apologized Thursday for an E. coli outbreak linked to the onions used on McDonald’s Quarter Pounders that sickened more than 100 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak paused the sale of Quarter Pounders for a week before they resumed without the onions, and prompted supplier Taylor Farms to initiate a voluntary recall of its yellow onions. On Thursday, Erlinger said the fast food chain “let people down” and that he was sorry “to all of our customers who were harmed by this incident.” The CDC has since said the outbreak is over and there is no continued food safety concern for McDonald’s products.
Further Reading
McDonald’s Plans ‘Fastest Period Of Growth In Brand’s History With 10,000 New Stores By 2027 (Forbes)
E. Coli Outbreak Linked To McDonald’s Has Sickened More Than 100 People (Forbes)
Digital Transformation Is On The Menu As McDonalds Innovates To Lead The Market (Forbes)
