The McDonald's Premium line is a group of products introduced by

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

in the spring of 2003. It includes the company's larger chicken sandwiches, its salad line, and its coffee products. The sandwiches are targeted at various demographic markets, the grilled chicken sandwiches and salads are targeted at both the female and health-conscious demographic markets. The entire line is intended to bring in a larger, more affluent, adult audience seeking better quality products.

Sandwiches

McDonald's line of larger chicken sandwiches (The Classic, Club and Ranch BLT) were introduced in July 2005 as part of McDonald's menu revamp. The classic includes Lettuce, Tomato, and Mayo. The Club also has Lettuce Tomato and Mayo, but also comes with Swiss cheese and bacon. The ranch BLT comes with a creamy ranch sauce, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato. All three can be chosen with either buttermilk crispy or grilled chicken and all are served on a honey wheat roll. A Spicy Chicken sandwich, with chipotle spices in the breading, was part of the premium line for a limited time in 2006. It was made the same way as a Classic, but with ranch instead of mayo. The spicy Chicken was brought back temporarily in late 2008, but it was not part of the premium line. In 2011, the honey wheat roll for the sandwiches was replaced with a whole grain bakery style bun to make the sandwiches "more neutral" in flavor. The entire Premium Chicken sandwich line was replaced in 2015 by the Crispy Chicken Deluxe (in August renamed the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Sandwich) and the Grilled Chicken Deluxe, two sandwiches that were part of the ill-fated Deluxe sandwich line in 1996 and have been slightly reformulated, meaning that they are now served on artisan rolls.

Salads

The Premium product line in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom includes McDonald's salad products. First introduced in March 2003, the salads all are a mixture of

iceberg lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...

and a lettuce assortment ( romaine, etc.), with

cherry tomato The cherry tomato is a type of small round tomato believed to be an intermediate genetic admixture between wild currant-type tomatoes and domesticated garden tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf bal ...

es and different toppings to differentiate them; Each salad is sold plain or topped with either a grilled or crispy chicken patty which has been chopped and added to the salad just prior to selling. The line includes varieties of

Newman's Own Newman's Own is an American food company headquartered in Connecticut. Founded in 1982 by actor Paul Newman and author A. E. Hotchner, the company donates all of its after-tax profits to charity through the Newman's Own Foundation, a private no ...

salad dressing that are tailored for each type of salad. The line includes: *

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Salad - chili-

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

flavored

tortilla A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indigenous peoples of M ...

strips, black beans, roasted

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es, poblano peppers, and fire-roasted corn, a

wedge and a

cilantro Coriander (;

-lime glaze for the chicken served with a "southwest" dressing. * Bacon Ranch Salad -

bacon bits Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato san ...

, Cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack cheese served with ranch dressing. * Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad -

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

breast, Cheddar cheese, and Monterey Jack cheese served with a creamy caesar dressing. * Fruit & Walnut Salad - candied

walnuts A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bot ...

, low-fat

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

, and red and green apple slices with red seedless grapes. * Fiesta Salad - warm seasoned

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

, cheddar jack cheese, and crispy tortilla strips served with all natural chunky salsa. * The Asian Salad -

mandarin oranges The mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), also known as the mandarin or mandarine, is a small citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. Tangerines are a group of orange-coloured ...

red peppers ''Red Peppers'', described as "an interlude with music", is a short comic play in two scenes by Noël Coward. It is one of ten short plays that make up '' Tonight at 8.30'', a cycle written to be performed in groups of three plays across three ...

edamame is a preparation of immature soybeans in the pod, found in cuisines with origins in East Asia. The pods are boiled or steamed and may be served with salt or other condiments. In Japan, they are usually blanched in 4% salt water for 5 minut ...

, snow peas, and an orange glaze for the chicken served with low fat sesame ginger dressing. Additional dressing flavors offered include a low fat Italian dressing and low fat balsamic vinaigrette.

Chicken Selects

The advertising for its chicken strips product has been modified so that the word ''Premium'' appears in its description in its print, online and broadcast media. The word is capitalized, which indicates its association with the line. McDonald's stopped selling chicken selects in 2013, but they were brought back for a limited time promotion in March 2015 to combat McDonald's low sales.

Beverages

In the United States McDonald's has upgraded its coffee line. In the Northeastern States coffee is sold under the Newman's Own brand. In 2007 McDonald's expanded the Premium coffee line to include flavored

iced coffee Iced coffee is a coffee beverage served cold. It may be prepared either by brewing coffee normally (i.e. carafe, French press, etc.) and then serving it over ice or in cold milk or by brewing the coffee cold. In hot brewing, sweeteners and fl ...

. In 2008–2009 it was expanded once more to lattes,

cappuccino A cappuccino (; ; Italian plural: ''cappuccini'') is an espresso-based coffee drink that originated in Austria and was later popularized in Italy and is prepared with steamed milk foam ( microfoam). Variations of the drink involve the use of ...

s and mochas in the North American market. The Premium coffee line is designed to compete in the high end coffee segment created by

Peet's Coffee Peet's Coffee is a San Francisco Bay Area-based specialty coffee roaster and retailer owned by JAB Holding Company via JDE Peet's. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California, Peet's introduced the United States to its darker roasted ...

, specifically the international chains Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts and is advertised under the McCafé brand.

References

External links