The fast-food giant will test a selection of indulgent beverages from its CosMc’s concept at select US restaurants before the end of the year in a bid to capture a greater share of the highly profitable out-of-home beverage segment
Fast-food giant McDonald’s is planning to add a selection of its gourmet CosMc’s beverages to regular menus in the US later this year.
Speaking to investors on a first quarter earnings call, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said the business was “committed to going after beverages” and would work with franchisees to carry out a ‘beverage test’ in the second half of 2025 to further tap into the lucrative US indulgent beverage category.
Launched in Illinois in December 2023, CosMc’s offers a small hot espresso-based beverage menu alongside an extensive range of customisable blended and iced products, including Churro Shaken Espressos, Iced Matcha Lattes and Sour Cherry Energy Bursts. The concept’s bestselling beverage is a Fruity Popping Boba, according to McDonald’s.
CosMc’s, which was later expanded to five sites in Texas, enabled McDonald’s to trial a beverage-led concept without negatively impacting speed of service within its existing restaurants. Launching a standalone concept also allowed the fast-food giant to analyse customer appetite for customisation, Kempczinski said, adding that the majority of customers prefer standardised beverage menus over extensive customisation options.
“Part of the impetus for us to go do CosMc’s was a belief that if we try to do it within an existing restaurant that the complexity may be too great and would impact speed of service and some other things. And so, the thought was, do we need to maybe look at quarantining the complexity in a standalone concept,” Kempczinski explained.
Kempczinski also told investors that adding CosMc’s beverages to its standard McDonald’s menus would enable the fast-food chain to bring a specialist focus into its traditional stores and maximise the profitability of the beverages segment.
“If we look at the opportunity from a macro perspective, the profitability of beverages is very attractive. Frankly, we think there’s more that we can be doing to capture our fair share of the beverages market,” he added.
The rollout of CosMc’s beverage will fall under the remit of Jill McDonald, who has been promoted to lead the fast-food chain’s Restaurant Experience Team. The former Costa Coffee CEO joined McDonald’s in August 2022 as President of International Operated Markets – a role now held by McDonald’s veteran Manu Steijaert.
