Earlier this year, news that both McDonald’s and Wendy’s said they were losing the breakfast wars made headlines. As we close out 2025, it looks like a changing economy and changing tastes may be altering the course of fast food forever.
There have been stories about fast food prices creeping higher in part due to inflation, making what was once a cheap and easy purchase into a luxury. Consumers are also looking for different types of products, including vegan and high-protein options.
Some of the most recent headlines about the shifts in fast food include KFC losing its crown as the king of fast food chicken, low income diners struggling to avoid fast food, and Wendy’s Black Friday move to bring in customers with the $0.67 Frosty deal. There are also chains leaning into new trends and customer desires, including Starbucks’ launch of protein-rich drinks and McDonald’s slate of new deals.
“Something Offbeat” host Mike Rogers recently sat down with author and cross-cultural digital communication expert Annalisa Nash Fernandez to discuss how these might play out and what fast food companies should keep their eye on to keep appealing to customers.
“I think that these offerings are definitely downstream from culture and our culture is becoming more and more and more multicultural,” she explained. “So we... see things like… breakfast burritos and different kinds of food for breakfast, and that also is kind of breaking down the barriers and the norms around breakfast itself.”
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