McDonald’s May Never Bring Back the Snack Wrap

Loyal McDonald’s fans may remember a particular menu item debut that still hurts to reminisce about due to its removal from the menu: the fast-food chain’s Snack Wrap. Amid the recent announcement about McDonald’s burger changes, you might be wondering about the fate of the Snack Wrap yet again, as the company seeks to alter and improve its menu.

For a refresher, the McDonald’s Snack Wrap launched in 2006 as a healthier snack option and consisted of a few ingredients: your choice of grilled or crispy chicken, cheese, lettuce and sauce nestled in a tortilla. And although it seemed like a successful staple, fans were sorely disappointed when McDonald’s removed the Snack Wrap from its U.S. menu in 2016.

With the McDonald’s Snack Wraps a continual ask from fans who want it back, it’s easy to wonder why McDonald’s hasn’t made it happen yet, not to mention why the chain took them off the national menu in the first place.

Why were Snack Wraps discontinued?

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According to Business Insider, McDonald’s opted to oust the chicken wraps due to the complexity of their assembly. Although one might assume the Snack Wraps weren’t selling (why else would Mickey D’s remove such a sought-after snack?), that wasn’t the case here. Instead, the main issue was the time it took workers to make Snack Wraps. Per Business Insider, the pressure from franchisees, who complained about the Snack Wraps slowing down production, plus the pressure to keep service times low, ultimately moved McDonald’s to nix them from its national menu.

Financial news outlet TheStreet asserts that convincing franchisees to keep the Snack Wrap was a difficult task for McDonald’s, even if fans loved the item. “The challenge with the Snack Wrap is that it is made using processes that don’t match the rest of the kitchen. That was something franchisees were willing to put up with when it was a huge seller, but became something they pushed back against when sales slowed,” writes Daniel Kline of TheStreet.

Do customers want Snack Wraps back?

While McDonald’s employees and franchisees may not have been fans of Snack Wraps, some devotees want them back. Since Snack Wraps disappeared from the McDonald’s menu, fans have taken their Snack Wrap complaints to Twitter and several Change.org petitions to bring them back exist, with creation dates stemming as far back as 2017. Two petitions, in particular, have over 17,000 signatures. At the time of publication, one has 17,144 signatures, and the other has 17,780.

McDonald’s even invited fans to comment on which menu items they’d like to see return, but this move didn’t help Snack Wrap fans get what they wanted. In April 2022, the company tweeted “bring back _____.” One scroll through the thread, and it’s easy to see fans were still asking for the Snack Wrap six years after its disappearance.

Will McDonald’s ever bring Snack Wraps back?

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So far, McDonald’s has not attempted to bring back its infamous chicken wrap, but is there any hope for the future? TheStreet points to an area that could serve as a smart reintroduction for Snack Wraps—McDonald’s Malaysia’s new breakfast wraps. But despite McDonald’s restaurants in other countries selling Snack Wraps or related items (notably England and Canada), the McDonald’s Snack Wrap coming back doesn’t seem to be a likely priority for McDonald’s home country—even as a part of the McDonald’s secret menu. With petitions, tweets and other fan asks going unheard for years, and the fact that McDonald’s strives for quick production, these fan-favorite bites may be a thing of the past.

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Sources:

• Business Insider: “Why McDonald’s got rid of the snack wrap — and why it’s not coming back any time soon”
• TheStreet: “McDonald’s Adds a New Snack Wrap (You Won’t Be Happy)”