We just learned a secret, and it’s as big of a deal as the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes split. It’s like, oops. Am I supposed to know this? It’s the secret recipe for McDonald’s Big Mac sauce (mayonnaise, sweet-pickle relish, yellow mustard, white wine vinegar and spices including garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika).
I only heard about this on a national news program. I wondered outloud what the reason could be for revealing the ingredients. After all, if it was a secret that wasn’t supposed to get out, I’m sure the head chef would be fired. There had to be a strategy behind that. What was it?
As it turns out, the revelation is part of McDonalds’s effort to be more transparent about its products.
My jaw dropped, because the same day, I finished writing the soon to be published Mintel trend report Innovation on the Menu: Flavor Trends—U.S., August 2012. One of the trends relates to spices and herbs and consumer familiarity with and interest in them. It turns out that consumers are far more familiar with all spices than they are interested in them. I think it’s because they may know the names of the spices, but they aren’t familiar enough with the flavor to say they are interested in it.
My conclusion in the report is that restaurants have not done a good enough job highlighting spices and herbs beyond just saying “spices” and “herbs” and they need to start identifying them. For example, how often do you read “herb-crusted” in a menu description? What does that tell you about the flavor? Pretty much nothing. Herb is a broad term. So is spice.
According to the consumer survey conducted for the report, 59% of consumers are familiar with paprika. Yet only 21% are interested in it. I’ll bet the 59% who say they are familiar with it couldn’t pick it out in a taste test, and that’s why only 21% are interested in it.
Since McDonald’s has given its sauce recipe, I’ll bet many will try to duplicate it, and thus they will be experimenting with paprika, and then they will really become familiar with and interested in it.
There’s another stroke of brilliance in giving out that recipe, based on trends. When consumers were asked how they learn about flavors and ingredients, the No. 1 response is cookbooks (52%) followed by word of mouth, television and menu descriptions. Cookbooks. People learn about flavors through recipes. My conclusion in the report was that restaurants may want to be bold enough to come out with a cookbook or give recipes here and there. I had barely hit the “send” button for the report to go to editing when I heard the McDonald’s Big Mac sauce news. What damage do you think revealing that recipe will do to McDonald’s? Will people quit ordering Big Macs because now they could make it at home? No. Probably more people will order it.
So I say to other restaurateurs, give it up. Tell us how you do it. I’m impressed with Jasper’s restaurant in Kansas City. Not only does Jasper Mirabile publish and sell cookbooks of his family recipes, he also sells a kit for consumers to make their own mozzarella cheese at home like the mozzarella the wait staff makes tableside as one of the appetizers. He’s learned a secret himself. Don’t be so secretive. Be educational. Turn your customers into the foodie that you are and they will love you and reward you with business.
Tell me what you think.
Jody
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