The rise and fall of McDonald’s CosMc’s

McDonald's launched a beverage chain to fight Dutch Bros, opened dozens of locations, then killed it in under 2 years — but learned exactly what they needed.

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By The Numbers

10,000+

McDonald's locations globally

50%

sales from one drink

years before shutting down

What They Nailed Early

McDonald's saw the threat early: drive-through coffee chains like Dutch Bros were capturing young consumers with sugary caffeinated drinks. Rather than dilute the core brand, they launched a separate concept to compete and learn without risking the mothership.

What Changed

After opening a couple dozen CosMc's locations, McDonald's discovered the category wasn't actually new territory requiring a separate brand. The data showed 2-3 drinks (especially caramel-chocolate Frappuccinos) drove the vast majority of sales. They could capture 80% of the opportunity just by adding those SKUs to existing McDonald's restaurants.

Where it Landed

All CosMc's locations closed in under 2 years. McDonald's is rolling the winning beverage items into the main chain. Smart experiment, clean exit, lessons captured.

The Principles

Test new categories without risking the core. McDonald's ran CosMc's as a controlled experiment rather than bloating the main menu or launching blind.

Big menus hide simple truths. Even with huge variety, 2-3 items drove most revenue — knowing that lets you skip the complexity.

Know when adjacency beats new branding. If it's an extension not a revolution, bolt it onto what's working instead of building from scratch.

Builder's Takeaway

If you're testing a new category, steal this playbook:

•

Launch small and separate so you can learn without contaminating the core brand

•

Let real customer data tell you if it's truly a new category or just a menu add

•

Kill it fast if the lesson is 'add 3 SKUs' not 'build a new chain'

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