McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski on Wednesday offered three predictions for trends that the quick-service restaurant industry will see this year.
The top three trends that Kempczinski forecast to emerge in the sector this year focused on food and technology.
He detailed them in a video he posted on Instagram.
“I think protein is going to be a big trend that you see, with people looking to get increased protein consumption,” he said in the post.
“Protein is hot. Everybody’s into protein,” Kempczinski said, adding that it “works perfectly” with McDonald’s and its burgers, chicken, fish filets and other items.
He also suggested the quick-service restaurant industry will lean more into artificial intelligence (AI).
“Everybody’s talking about AI, and AI certainly has a lot of applications in our business,” the McDonald’s CEO said. “We’ve got a number of teams looking at how we can use AI to deliver an even better experience for our customers, even better experience for our crew members.”
McDonald’s has previously inked deals to partner with companies like Google and Cognizant to use AI, cloud and other technologies in its operations.
Kempczinski further projected that fast-food eaters will “be seeing some interesting sauces.”
“Spicy is certainly always in. I think you might see some honey or some sweet stuff in,” he noted. “But sauces are also going to be a big thing, in my estimation, for 2025.”
The fast-food giant has experimented with sauces in the past.
Last summer, it offered a limited-time garlic dipping sauce. It also ran a Sweet & Spicy Jam Sauce and a Mambo Sauce for a limited time in 2023.
Kempczinski concluded the video by saying he’ll “come back a year from now and see how I did” with his predictions for 2025.
McDonald’s generated $25.9 billion in revenue throughout 2024.
Meanwhile, its annual net income for the year was $8.2 billion.
