- The CEO of McDonald's said the company launched trials of a bigger burger in Canada and Portugal.
- The Big Arch contains two beef patties, three slices of cheese, and a new, "tangy" sauce.
- The burger weighs in at 14 ounces and has 1,065 calories.
McDonald's has launched trials of a bigger, "more satiating" burger in Canada and Portugal.
The burger, which executives have been teasing since last year, is called the Big Arch.
"We continue to innovate across our core menu to address unmet customer needs with a more satiating burger that will provide great value for money," McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors on Monday.
The burger consists of two beef patties, three slices of white cheddar cheese, crispy onions, raw onions, pickles, lettuce, and a new Big Arch sauce on a sesame-seed bun, per a description of the burger on the McDonald's Portugal website. Kempczinski described the new sauce as "tangy" on the call with investors.
"It's a quintessential McDonald's burger with a twist on our iconic, familiar flavors," he said.
McDonald's first announced plans for the burger in December, describing it as a "large burger equity."
The burger is being piloted in three international markets this year, Kempczinski said. "We plan to attest and learn through the end of the year to gather learnings before scaling more broadly internationally," he said.
McDonald's started selling the Big Arch at selected restaurants in Ontario and Alberta, Canada, in late June, with plans to roll it out across the country by the end of the summer. The company described the burger as designed "for the extra hungry."
The fast-food chain launched the burger at all 205 of its restaurants in Portugal in earlier this Month. At one McDonald's in Lisbon, the burger is listed on Uber Eats for 10.50 euros, or about $9.70, or 13 euros with fries and a drink, though delivery aggregators typically charge more than in-restaurant menu prices.
The Big Arch weighs 395 grams, or about 14 ounces, and contains 1,065 calories, per McDonald's Portugal. It also contains 96% of the recommended daily fat intake for the average adult.
One Reddit user who said they tried the new burger in Canada described it as "huge."
The biggest burger McDonald's has on its core US menu is the Double Quarter Pounder, made up of two beef patties that weigh about 8 ounces before cooking and two slices of American cheese. At 740 calories, it's the most caloric burger on the chain's core US menu.
Customers want bigger burgers, not premium ones
Under its "Accelerating the Arches" strategy, originally launched in November 2020, McDonald's has focused on improving its core menu — burgers, chicken, and coffee — which Ian Borden, the CFO of McDonald's, previously said makes up about 65% of global sales.
This includes focusing on bigger burgers rather than premium ones. "We thought the opportunity was about premium burger, which was wrong," Borden told analysts at the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference in March. "We weren't successful." Instead, he said, customers want larger burgers.
The plan also includes the chain's "Best Burger" initiative, launched last year, to change its burgers' ingredients and how they're cooked. Kempczinski told investors on Monday that the strategy was in place in more than 80% of the company's markets and would be introduced in nearly all its markets by the end of 2026.
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