Chicago, June 14, 2026, 20:03 PKT
- McDonald’s is expanding its U.S. drinks menu with new permanent refreshers and crafted sodas, and is also running tests for Red Bull drinks in select markets.
- McDonald’s still relies on Coca-Cola for most of its fountain drinks but is bringing in new suppliers as younger customers look for more variety, including flavored, colorful, and caffeinated drinks.
- Fast-food chains are looking to specialty drinks to drive traffic and boost margins, treating them as a growth category instead of just an add-on to meals.
McDonald’s is testing how far it can take its partnership with Coca-Cola, adding more specialty drinks to its menus, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The 70-year tie-up, started with a 1955 handshake between Coca-Cola’s Waddy Pratt and Ray Kroc, is under strain as McDonald’s tries to attract younger customers with options like custom sodas, refreshers and energy drinks.
Specialty drinks are gaining ground on U.S. menus. McDonald’s rolled out six new permanent drinks nationwide on May 6: Strawberry Watermelon Refresher, Mango Pineapple Refresher, Blackberry Passion Fruit Refresher, Sprite Berry Blast, Orange Dream, and Dirty Dr Pepper. The lineup includes lemonade bases, freeze-dried fruit, cold foam, and popping boba. “Fans see drinks as more than just drinks,” said McDonald’s USA marketing chief Alyssa Buetikofer. McDonald’s Corporation
McDonald’s is moving into energy drinks, with the chain trying out beverages like Sprite Lunar Splash and Red Bull-based drinks in Colorado and Wisconsin, The Wall Street Journal reported. Previous reports said a Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer would roll out later this year as McDonald’s expands its specialty drink lineup. That puts McDonald’s into the fast-growing energy drink market, where not all products come from Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola isn’t losing ground at McDonald’s. The new menu still features Coke products, like Sprite in Sprite Berry Blast and Hi-C Orange Lavaburst in Orange Dream. The Wall Street Journal said Coca-Cola was involved with some of McDonald’s latest colorful sodas. Coca-Cola CEO Henrique Braun called the McDonald’s partnership “fantastic” and said the company would “respect their decisions” but aims to keep its spot as the main drink supplier for consumers. The Wall Street Journal
McDonald’s is chasing more than just a new look. The Associated Press said fast-food names like McDonald’s, KFC, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and Burger King are making changes to their drink menus as they try to grab share from Starbucks and Dutch Bros. Specialty drinks tend to be more profitable than regular fountain sodas. McDonald’s is also set to introduce a “beverage specialist” job at its U.S. stores, and will carve out a counter space just to handle drinks. AP News
CosMc’s didn’t last long. The McDonald’s test shop focused on customizable afternoon drinks and snacks, but the company shut it down. McDonald’s plans to add some CosMc’s drinks to its main restaurants. CEO Chris Kempczinski had called beverages a “$100 billion category” that’s outpacing casual dining in growth and bringing fatter margins, according to AP. AP News
Timing is key as McDonald’s searches for new menu items that draw in more customers but don’t slow down its service. The company posted global comparable sales up 3.8% for the first quarter of 2026, with U.S. comps ahead 3.9%. CEO Kempczinski pointed to value, marketing, and menu innovation as drivers for the results. The test now: can drinks with foam, boba, fruit bits, and energy bases actually work at scale across a U.S. franchise base of about 13,500 restaurants?
Seeking Alpha on Sunday called the move a diversification play but pointed to execution risks. McDonald’s is going after the specialty-drink trend, while Coca-Cola tries to protect a partnership that’s defined the chain’s beverage lineup for years. The question for McDonald’s isn’t just about selling Coke with its meals anymore—it’s whether premium drinks can draw in customers without hurting the speed, simplicity, and supplier setups that made the company so big.
