McDonald’s Has Huge Global Plans for 2026

Since McDonald's arguably is the most famous restaurant brand of all time, it could choose to rest on its laurels to a certain degree. Despite that, the company is constantly evolving its business model in a variety of ways, like when it recently launched changes to its menus around the world. As it turns out, the fast food giant has other ambitious global plans for 2026 that are well-positioned to excite fans worldwide.

McDonald’s Has Major Global Expansion Plans for 2026

The year 2026 is set to be pivotal for McDonald's work to significantly expand its footprint worldwide. After the company launched its Accelerating the Arches initiative, it provided an update in December 2023 about how many new locations it intended to open over a short timeframe.

In its release, McDonald's announced that it had plans to have 50,000 locations operating globally by the end of 2027. Even though the first McDonald's was opened in 1940, the company stated that those expansion plans were the most aggressive ever. "This will mark the fastest period of growth in Company history."

A recent Newsweek article about the plans stated that roughly 900 openings within the U.S. were planned as part of the multi-year expansion push. According to the McDonald's Corporate website, the company still has a lot of work to do to reach the previously announced benchmark on time. According to the company, it currently is running "44,000 locations, and counting." That means that there will have to be more than 5,000 additional location net openings by December 31, 2027, for the stated goal to be reached.

McDonald’s Has Other Plans That Will Be Even More Noteworthy for Loyal Consumers

The same December 2023 McDonald's press release that detailed the company's expansion plans revealed that 2026 was set to benefit from another ambitious effort that was underway. At that time, the Best Burger initiative had been commenced and was beginning to change the chain's offerings. That effort was planned to make McDonald's food higher quality and improve its flavor.

Importantly, the company stated in 2023 that the plan was for the Best Burger initiative to be in effect in most McDonald's restaurants by the time 2026 begins. "Building on its historic strength with burgers, the Company continues to evolve and innovate around its longest-standing menu item with plans to deploy the Best Burger initiative to nearly all markets by 2026."

Since McDonald's had targeted to have its Best Burger rollout mostly accomplished by 2026, that means that the company's hamburgers should now taste better in most markets around the world. If those efforts paid off as planned, then 2026 could be a banner year for fans who will be able to get tastier food at an ever-expanding number of McDonald's locations globally.