On Wednesday, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempchinski provided three predictions on the trends the quick service restaurant industry will be seeing this year.
The top three trends that Kempczinski predicts to emerge in this sector this year focus on food and technology.
He detailed them in the video Posted on Instagram.
“I think protein is going to be a big trend you see. People want to increase protein consumption,” he said in the post.
“Protein is hot. Everyone is protein,” Kempczinski said, adding that it “works perfectly” with McDonald's, burgers, chicken, fish fillets and other items.
He also proposed that the quick service restaurant industry would tilt more towards artificial intelligence (AI).
“Everyone talks about AI, so AI certainly has a lot of applications in our business,” said McDonald's CEO. “There are many teams looking at ways to use AI to provide an even better experience for our customers.
McDonald's previously partnered with companies such as Google and Cognizant to inked transactions to use AI, cloud and other technologies in operation.
Kempczinski further predicted that fast food eaters are “seeing some interesting sauces.”
“The spicy is certainly always in it. I think you might see honey or sweets,” he pointed out. “But my estimation is that the 2025 sauce will also be huge.”
The fast food giant has tried sauces in the past.
Last summer, it served a limited amount of time garlic dipping sauce. I also ran a sweet and spicy jam sauce and mambo sauce for a limited time in 2023.
Kempczinski concluded the video with his prediction for 2025, saying, “Back in a year from now and see how I did it.”
McDonald's generated $25.9 billion in revenue throughout 2024.
Meanwhile, the annual net income for the year was $8.2 billion.
