McDonald's is strategically shifting its focus toward chicken, with CEO Chris Kempczinski identifying it as the primary growth frontier in the competitive quick-service restaurant market. The company aims to increase its global chicken market share by 1.5 percentage points by 2030, while also maintaining leadership in beef and gaining 1.5 percentage points in beverage share.
This move is driven by the global chicken market being roughly twice the size of beef and growing at a faster rate, with global chicken production accelerating to over 3% annually in the past three to four years. McDonald's has already expanded its McCrispy fried chicken sandwich to nearly all major markets and brought back items like snack wraps, leveraging chicken's typically lower price point to reinforce its value-oriented strategy.
McDonald's plans significant investments to support this and other growth initiatives, including approximately $8.5 billion in total NEXT partnering support through 2036, with about $5 billion allocated by 2030. This includes $1.5 billion to $2 billion in cumulative capital partnering support from 2027 to 2030, in addition to approximately $3 billion in annual baseline capital expenditures.
These investments are projected to result in approximately 250 basis points of gross restaurant-level efficiency gains, translating to roughly $100,000 in annual cash flow benefits for the average U.S. restaurant, with a four-year payback for franchisees. The company also targets an operating margin in the low-to-mid 50% range by 2030, up from 46.1% in 2025.
The global rise of chicken, with production increasing from 48.3 billion in 2006 to 76.2 billion in 2023, is a significant trend. While the U.S. pioneered industrial chicken, Brazil is now the largest exporter, shipping approximately 4.9 million tons in 2024. However, the future growth of chicken faces environmental and political challenges, with increasing opposition to new intensive poultry farms in regions like Europe and the UK.
