Heart-ening Development: McDonald's Adds Oatmeal
Posted by Dale Buss on December 8, 2010 12:00 PM
Quaker Oats has had trouble generating a sales recovery in oatmeal even after a couple of brand makeovers during the last couple of years, including the befuddling “Go, Humans, Go!” advertising campaign of 2009.It seems however that Americans are genuinely excited about “going out” for oatmeal.
McDonald's will become the latest quick-serve eatery to jump on the oatmeal bandwagon when it begins serving oatmeal on an all-day basis at its restaurants January 3.
In doing so, McDonald's joins Starbucks, Jamba Juice and a handful of other chains in counting on the rib-sticking nutrition provided by oatmeal and, usually, a handful of fruit.
Fruit & Maple Oatmeal will be available all day long at McDonald's, with or without brown sugar, for $1.99. It includes a half-cup of apples, cranberries and raisins.
Through market tests this year (and taste-testing by mommy-bloggers at BlogHer), McDonald's has discovered what millions of Americans have concluded over the past several years: Oatmeal is one of the best better-for-you food bets around.
It demonstrably lowers cholesterol, which has accounted for the rising popularity of ready-to-eat cereals such as Cheerios. Its fiber content contributes to other health benefits.
By including fruit, McDonald's is making another healthful play, appealing to consumers who like fruit — and know they should have several servings a day – but often are thwarted by the convenience factor or other obstacles.
Oatmeal at dinnertime might not prove a popular item at McDonald's, but with Mickey D’s plunge into such a healthy product line in the US, it will get harder to paint the chain as a Neanderthal when it comes to nutrition.
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