McChicken Variation

After sales of 14 million sandwiches, McDonald’s and GialloZafferano present the third edition of McChicken Variations. With the introduction of Il Ricercato and the return of Il Goloso

This year’s protagonist is Parmigiano Reggiano: an ingredient of the new Il Ricercato sandwich, a continuous addition to the McDonald’s menu that enhances salads and Wraps

The success of the McChicken Variation project, in partnership with GialloZafferano, Italy’s best loved food media brand, is now in its third edition: added this year to the McChicken Original recipe are Il Ricercato and Il Goloso, conceived with quality ingredients from around Italy. With this project, McDonald’s Italia also announces the reinforcement of the inclusion of the outstanding Parmigiano Reggiano DOP on its menu.

The new recipes, created together by McDonald’s and GialloZafferano, are available in all of the 615 restaurants in Italy until 19 October.
The McChicken Variations on offer include the “great return” of Il Goloso, the sandwich with 100% Italian chicken breast, 100% Italian bacon, salad and yellow tomatoes from Campania, introduced last year, again along with the chefs of the Mondadori Group brand. And new this year is Il Ricercato, an exclusive recipe with 100% Italian chick breast, rocket, tomatoes, mayonnaise, Italian basil and Parmigiano Reggiano.
This recipe will involve the acquisition of some 32 tons of Parmigiano Reggiano flakes, an authentic “princely” ingredient for this edition of McChicken Variations.

The relationship between McDonald’s and Parmigiano Reggiano is a long-standing one. The first DOP product offered by McDonald’s was a limited edition sandwich in 2008, and marked the first stage in a growing use by McDonald’s of the excellence of our country’s products, and in 2011 it was the first and only DOP product to find a permanent place among the assortment, with the Parmigiano Reggiano snack. From this year, Parmigiano Reggiano has expanded its presence on the McDonald’s menu as a continuous ingredient in salads and Wraps.

The McChicken Variation shows that McDonald’s is confirming and strengthening its Italian-ness. In fact, for the preparation of these recipes, the company will buy more, in addition to 32 tons Parmigiano Reggiano da Parmareggio, 15,5 tons of rocket from Bonduelle Italia, 30 tons of tomatoes and 20 tons of batavia lettuce from Bonduelle Italia and Sab, 300 kg 100% Italian basil for its basil mayonnaise, 18 tons of yellow Campanian tomatoes and 48 tons of bacon from Fratelli Beretta and Italia Alimentari.

All of these ingredients are in addition to the 100% Italian chicken breast supplied by Amadori and the bread produced by Bimbo at its plants in Modena and Rome.

This shift towards greater Italian-ness is a confirmation of McDonald’s commitment to the country’s agri-food sector, from which every year the company buys 94,000 tons of raw materials, with a value of over €200 million.

“We are delighted that our collaboration with GialloZafferano is now in its third edition,” said Dario Baroni, chief executive of McDonald’s Italia. “The McChicken Variation project is really a very important one for us, as it enables us to tell our customer about our commitment to flavour and the quality of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, and, above all, the search and selection of the best Italian suppliers. And it is a splendid opportunity to announce, with these new proposals, the continuous presence of Parmigiano Reggiano on our menus, and with which we will continue to pursue our mission of bringing to a large public the excellence of Made in Italy, traditionally considered a niche, and ‘educating’ consumers about the quality of Italian products and making them accessible to everyone.”

“Once again this year we are really excited to renew this important collaboration with McDonald’s,” declared Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media. Enhancing the taste and quality of the excellence of our country is a commitment that we bring every day to the homes of the millions of Italians who follow our brand. Values that we present through exclusive content and innovative languages, created thanks to our team and a group of over 50 top creators who collaborate with GialloZafferano. A winning formula that we use across all social media to actively engage an increasingly wider audience and become a point of reference even for younger users, thanks in particular to TikTok, where the brand has reached extraordinary numbers in just over a year.”

The McChicken Variations produced in partnership with GialloZafferano will be the protagonists of a rich programme of content, developed together with Brand On Solutions, the Mediamond project development area, and will involve all the brand’s digital channels – the website, app and social media. The visibility plan, developed together with the advertising sales company, will be live for the entire period of the initiative, with new recipes available on GialloZafferano.it on a dedicated hub, accessible from the site’s main menu. In support, a campaign of launches and advertising launches that will also involve the magazines GialloZafferano, Focus and Donna Moderna, has also been planned.

The story will continue across all of the brand’s social media platforms with exclusive content, created specifically for the different channels, and the collaboration of 6 creators, who will share the preparation of the recipes on TikTok.

The McChicken Variations will also be featured in a live cooking session to be held on the 23th of September on the GialloZafferano Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels. An event dedicated to the brand’s entire community, in which Manuel, the face of the site, will guide users through sandwiches recipes.

McDonald’s and GialloZafferano back together again: with the creation of McChicken Variation with an even more Italian flavour

After sales of more than 8 million sandwiches in 2019 the recipes created jointly by McDonald’s and GialloZafferano are back

The new recipes include 100% Italian chicken and 280 tonnes of local raw materials

Even more Italy from McDonald’s: again this year, all restaurants will serve McChicken Variations, sandwiches with 100% Italian chicken breast the result of the combined experience of Italian cooking of GialloZafferano and the unmistakeable taste of McDonald’s.

From today, in all 600 of McDonald’s restaurants in Italy two new sandwiches will be available, in addition to the original classic McChicken recipe. L’Audace, with smoked scamorza cheese, made from 100% Italian milk, grilled and sliced Italian pepper and a sauce with onions and Modena IGP Balsamic Vinegar; Il Goloso, with 100% Italian bacon and a delicious yellow tomato sauce.

The two new recipes, jointly created by GialloZafferano and McDonald’s, are a confirmation of the latter’s role as a partner of the Italian agri-food sector. In fact, to produce the recipes, the company has bought from Italian suppliers  28 tonnes of peppers, 17 tonnes of yellow tomatoes, 17 tonnes of smoked scamorza cheese – from a total of 1.7 million litres of Italian milk -, 44 tonnes of Italian bacon, 2 tonnes of Modena IGP balsamic vinegar and 170 tonnes of Italian chicken breast.

“In 2019 we decided to launch this new project with the support of a partner of the standing of GialloZafferano, which every day enters the homes of millions of Italians to teach them some of the best recipes from around the country. This challenge was well received by consumers and in just 10 weeks over 8 million customers chose the sandwiches that were created by our partnership,” declared Mario Federico, chief executive of McDonald’s Italia. “This is why we are today announcing the second part of the projects, with two new recipes featuring even more of Italy.”

The fantastic response we received from over 8 million users and consumers was for us proof of the successful formula that underlies this partnership that began last year. We are renewing it now with even more enthusiasm, being able to count on the fundamental values that unite us to a partner of excellence like McDonald’s: innovation, in which GialloZafferano has long been a pioneer and precursor in the food sector, constant attention to the enhancement of taste and the Italian territory, a passion for quality ingredients, which we share every day with our community through the faces and the chefs of  GialloZafferano. In addition, for us, this project is a perfect example of our model of a social multimedia company: strong and much-loved brands, such as GialloZafferano, able to capture the passions and interests of users, creating communities of individuals to whom they can propose unique content, products and experiences,” declared Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media.

“The project has evolved from a traditional advertising approach to embrace in a range of branded content contexts. At Mediamond, we are delighted that McDonald’s has recognised the value of an approach able to address the launch of a product with editorial models that are fun and able to engage both the audience and conversions,” declared Davide Mondo, chief executive of Mediamond.

To mark the launch, the new McChicken Variations will also be the protagonists of a live event on social media that will take place today at 5 pm on the Facebook and YouTube profiles of GialloZafferano.

Manuel and Giovanni, well-known faces from the site, will share with the community of food lovers the unique ingredients of these new recipes, to sample and recreate, bringing the McDonald’s kitchen to Italian homes.

The selection of top-quality products for the new McChicken Variations also underpins a storytelling project developed by the GialloZafferano team which, on board an Apecar, will accompany users on a tour of McDonald’s factories, to discover the excellence of 100% Italian food products.

Italians vote: here are the new recipes from McDonald’s and GialloZafferano

From a meeting between one of McDonald’s most celebrated sandwiches and the experience GialloZafferano welcome to McChicken Variation, a line of chicken burgers with a typically Italian taste

In the new recipes: 100% Italian chicken breast and 145 toes of locally sourced raw materials McChicken Delicato is the first choice for thousands of Italians online

From McDonald’s the new McChicken Variation, a burger made with 100% Italian chicken breast and the result of a meeting between the experience of GialloZafferano in Italian cooking and the unmistakable touch of McDonald’s. The new McChicken Variation will be available at McDonald’s restaurants from 12 June.

The new recipes have been created by chefs from GialloZafferano and McDonald’s, an authentic co-creation. In fact, the selection of the new burgers involved the online communities online of GialloZafferano and McDonald’s who, for the first time in Italy were asked to choose new flavours to enhance the McChicken range, voting on two recipes based on Italian products. With a total of around 200,000 online votes in two weeks, the McChicken Delicato recipe received the majority of votes and, along with the McChicken Saporito, gain the right to be included on the McDonald’s menu.

In addition to the classic McChicken, one of the most iconic and best loved burgers, it will be possible to find the two new recipes in all of McDonald’s 600 recipes: McChicken Delicato, with Provolone Valpadana DOP, grilled courgettes and sun-dried tomato sauce from Puglia; and McChicken Saporito, with Toma made with 100% Italian milk, crispy bacon, tomato and mayonnaise with grain mustard. Both of the new burgers use only 100% Italian chicken breast.

We are excited to announce this important collaboration with GialloZafferano, the most loved web site by Italians in the kitchen, which has enabled us to create new recipes and experiment with new ingredients. Also, for the first time, we have asked Italians to vote by choosing their favourite recipe,” said Mario Federico, chief executive of McDonald’s Italy.

“It is an honour and a challenge for us to sign, as GialloZafferano, two new burgers by McDonald’s, with an Italian taste and featuring a combination of selected ingredients from around the country. I am sure that customers will like them because, for the first time, while we proposed them some 200,000 people selected them as their favourites in a vote. And, like all of the recipes that come from the kitchens of GialloZafferano, people will also be able to prepare them in their own kitchens a home an reproduce an real McDonald’s burger,” declared Andrea Santagata, Chief Innovation Officer of the Mondadori Group.

A collaboration based on important common values: constant attention to consumer tastes, a passion for high quality ingredients and a propensity for innovation.

With these new products come alongside an increase in investments by McDonald’s in the Italian food sector thanks to an additional  145 tons of raw materials bought from local suppliers for the new McChicken Variation. In fact, the new recipes will use around 42 tons of Toma made from 100% Italian milk, 36 tons of Provolone Valpadana DOP, 58 tons of grilled courgettes and 11 tons of sun-dried tomatoes from Puglia.

Moreover, thanks to the video-recipes available online from GialloZafferano, McChicken Variation can also be made at home.