McDonald’s Is Trimming The Fat Off Their Menu, Adding Tablet Ordering

After McDonald’s transparency campaign backfired a little bit, the company has been working hard to change the way their restaurant works to draw in new customers and recapture the fast food market. Some of the steps they’ve been taking could drastically change the McDonald’s experience for regular customers.

One major change to the McDonald’s franchise is a new tablet ordering mechanism, which allows customers to use a computer device to customize their own burger. This tablet ordering system is part of McDonald’s new pilot program, which will be brought to 2,000 McDonald’s locations across the globe, according to USA Today. The customizable burger kiosks will be integrated into 30 McDonald’s locations, and one in seven branches within the next year. The program is designed to target younger, more tech-savvy McDonald’s customers.

“Most millenials would rather deal with a computer, iPad, iPhone than actually have interactions with another human being,” said McDonald’s franchisee Bob Nibeel.

According to Reuters, the “Create Your Taste” sandwich program is planned to expand to 14,000 locations by the end of 2015, assuming McDonald’s customers like constructing their own sandwich. However, McDonald’s has caused itself trouble in the past by adding too many options on the menu, which makes it difficult for customers to decide what they want. That’s why switching up the ordering process is not the only major change McDonald’s is making.

They’re also paring down their menu and minimizing the amount of ingredients in their food products. According to ABC News, McDonald’s is attempting to revamp their food options to eradicate the bad reputation the company has for serving unhealthy food. To do this, McDonald’s is trimming off a substantial amount of menu items and revising the methods they use to cook their food.

News of the menu changes was announced by McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson, who spoke to shareholders on Wednesday about the company’s plans to revitalize McDonald’s appeal. Lately, the brand has been struggling to hold onto customers, especially as people across the world become increasingly more health-conscious.

“Why do we need to have preservatives in our food?” said Mike Andres, the president of McDonald’s USA. “We probably don’t.”

While it hasn’t been revealed exactly what items will be cut from the McDonald’s menu, Andres explained that eight options will be removed, reducing the amount of Extra Value Meals to 11. Of course, the major McDonald’s favorites like the Big Mac and the off-and-on McRib will probably be safe.

“There’s more to come,” Andres said to McDonald’s investors. “We don’t need to have a big menu board to offer variety.”