McDonald’s introduces long-awaited Cookies and Crème Pie to the United States, delighting fans and expanding their sweet menu offerings.

Forget Grimace and his birthday shake (respectively); McDonald’s is releasing an even more highly awaited new Menu item.

McDonald’s operates in many countries and has a large global following on Social Media. This means that consumers in the United States may be interested in a product that is only available outside of the United States, much to their chagrin.

Some situations call for such an approach. McDonald’s (MCD) – Get Free Report restaurants in several countries cater to regional palates by providing specials that change with the seasons. That may be something with some familiarity to Americans, like Japanese burgers topped with eggs and other ingredients not typically found on American burgers.

In other instances, the chain’s regional specialties would be too exotic for American consumers. Foods like the Ham N’ Egg Twisty Pasta from Hong Kong, the Gratin Croquette Burger from Japan (made with a fried crab and pasta patty), and the McKroket from The Netherlands (picture a Filet ‘O Fish stuffed with beef instead of fish) would likely only appeal to a small subset of the American population.

Many Americans have seen photos of international McDonald’s menu items on social media or eaten them on vacation and wondered why the chain didn’t bring them to the United States. While Canadian Poutine (fries covered in melted cheese and gravy) and a wide range of international shake and McFlurry tastes seem tailor-made for the United States, the Pizza McPuff from India seems to fill a snack niche.

Now that one of those items has been sighted in the United States, a lot of McDonald’s devotees will be overjoyed.

McDonald’s Brings a New Pie Home

McDonald’s has never been great at making sweets, at least in the United States. In addition to its namesake Apple Pie, the shop also sells shakes, ice cream cones, and a few simple sundaes. It also offers the McFlurry, a popular frozen delight as infamous for its faulty machines (about 10% are down at any given moment across the country) as it is for the delicious frozen sweets it churns out.

McDonald’s is finally bringing a rumored pie to the States after years of speculation.

In other words, “IT IS NOW OFFICIAL! The popular Snackolator account announced on Instagram that McDonald’s Cookies and Crème pie was heading to the United States and has begun appearing in select locations.

Earlier in the week, the account had shared speculation about the new menu item, but has since verified its existence.

I wrote about this before with a foreign language version, but now we have a picture of the real thing, all thanks to a supportive subscriber. Snackolator continued, “This is a pie I’ve posted about a few times over the years and wanted McDonald’s would come to the states, and it is finally here.

So yet, the Cookies and Crème Pie has only been available at a limited number of establishments. but Snackolator expects it to generally be a nationwide offering.

They said, “I’m sure these will be available in most markets across the country, but it seems like there are always a few areas that don’t get McDonald’s pies for whatever reason.”

McDonald’s Has An Opportunity

Increasing the size of each customer’s average check is a crucial strategy for McDonald’s to expand. Outside of peak mealtimes, it has the potential to improve sales. CFO Ian Borden said during the first quarter earnings call that the chain has been successful in increasing the average check value.

“I think what we’re pleased about, particularly in the U.S., if we use that as the example, is just that balanced growth between check and guest count,” he said, with “probably two-thirds check, about a third guest count.”

Customers may feel compelled to spend extra money on a new pie, especially if it has been much-anticipated. Almost certainly, that’s what happened with the last Grimace Shake. These kinds of items, which are shared enthusiastically on social media, might bring back dormant clients and increase sales for current ones.

The post McDonald’s Menu Finally Adding Beloved Global Favorite appeared first on Store-Hour.