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McDonald’s Says There’s Such a Thing as a Bad Big Mac. Now It’s Training 2 Million Workers to Taste the Difference.
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Published 10/28/2026 9:00:00 AM
McDonald’s Wants Staff to Know What a Bad Big Mac Tastes Like
Not every Big Mac is created equal. McDonald’s is now asking its workers to taste bad Big Macs so they can tell the difference.
The fast-food giant is rolling out the largest training effort in its history, coaching all 2 million of its restaurant workers worldwide on quality standards, management and hospitality, according to Restaurant Business. It’s part of McDonald’s “Next” strategy, which also includes restaurant remodels, AI in its stores and new menu items aimed at GLP-1 users. Part of the training has employees taste the difference between food made to McDonald’s “gold standard” and food that’s bronze at best.
“If you taste a Big Mac that’s made to the standard, you can tell the difference between that and one that’s not quite to standard,” Chief People Officer Tiffanie Boyd tells the outlet. “It’s different if you actually experience that.”
In the U.S., McDonald’s has swapped some restaurant inspections for coaching visits through next March. Those visits focus first on taste and quality, then on shift management and hospitality. Boyd says the payoff is tangible: restaurants in the top 25% for employee engagement and retention generate 15% more sales and 20% more cash flow.
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This story has been updated.
McDonald’s own menu innovation was hurting the very restaurants it was meant to help. New product launches came so fast that service slowed down and satisfaction dropped, the company admitted at its investor day this week.
Now the company is spending $8.5 billion over a ten-year period to fix this issue and more, according to Bloomberg. The investment builds on McDonald’s “Next” growth plan, the company’s broader growth and productivity strategy focused on restaurant modernization, technology deployment, operational simplification and stronger restaurant economics.
McDonald’s says the plan should make restaurants run more efficiently enough to add about $100,000 a year in cash flow for the average U.S. location, with most of that money eventually landing in franchisees’ pockets. The company estimates it’ll take about four years for franchisees to earn back what they’re spending
Part of the fix involves chasing a market McDonald’s has historically underserved: chicken, a category worth an estimated $30 billion. The company also wants back into the wellness conversation. McDonald’s says 84% of households with a GLP-1 user still visit its restaurants, and it’s building new menu options aimed at that audience.
McDonald’s is staking billions on the idea that better-run restaurants, not flashy new products, are what will win back customers.
