McDonald’s has officially upped the ante on the quick-service breakfast wars with a national roll out of its new fruit and maple oatmeal.
The item is available at all 14,000 U.S. stores and is offered all day. It is the chain’s first new breakfast offering since 2008.
The oatmeal is made of 100-percent natural whole grain oats, light cream and brown sugar, and is topped with diced red and green apples, dried cranberries and two types of raisins. Each bowl, sold at a suggested retail price of $1.99, is made upon request.
"With McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, we're offering a portable, affordable and balanced breakfast solution to help customers start their day right," said Cindy Goody, Ph.D., MBA, R.D., senior director of nutrition at McDonald’s. "McDonald's wants to help make it easier and more inviting for our guests to eat more whole grains and fruits, and fruit and maple oatmeal is an effective way to help our customers integrate these important food groups into their daily diets."
The item has 290 calories (260 calories without brown sugar), 32 grams of whole grain oats and provides about 25 percent of the daily recommendations for fruit.
McDonald’s began testing oatmeal earlier this year in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore markets. The new offering further positions the QSR giant against Starbucks and Jamba Juice, which already sell oatmeal. Starbucks' oatmeal comes with packets of dried fruit and nuts and is priced at $2.45, while the Jamba Juice product is $2.95 and comes in different varieties such as berry cherry pecan.
Prior to the new oatmeal rollout, McDonald’s threw down the gauntlet with these two chains with its successful McCafe line featuring a variety of coffee options and, most recently, smoothies.
