Tag Archives: McRib

Ecuador McRib

November 27, 2023 McRib Roundup

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McRib Roundup: The McRib makes an appearance in a new international market, the McRib skips out on parts of the US, and pricing on the webpage all included in this McRib Monday update

McRib lands in Ecuador

For the first time we have documented, the McRib is now available in Ecuador!

“Something totally delicious has arrived at McDonald’s 🙌🤤🍖You’re going to stain your hands with its delicious combination of flavors. Try the new McRib today! 🤩 For a limited time ✨ Try it before it’s gone #DesirablyDesirable Find it at your nearest McDonald’s🤤🤩”

Certainly a new take on the McRib promotion indicating that you will be staining your hands. The McRib appears to be of the original McRib style. Thank you to David for sending us confirmation of two locations in Ecuador offering the McRib.

Omissions from the US 2023 McRib season

While many places did end up having the McRib, there were still parts of the US that did not. Notably, Alaska, Idaho, most of Michigan, southern Florida, eastern Pennsylvania, New York, and the New England states all decided to skip the McRib this year. While it is not surprising that the New England states skipped the McRib as they are most likely to skip when it is not a nationwide release, these other locations are surprising. With the generally wide release again this year, it is unusual that some of these typical McRib strongholds skipped out. Make sure to let your local store Manager know you want the McRib back next year!

The price is right

A few of you may have noticed that there is some new information available on the McRib Locator webpage, pricing details. Now when submitting a new sighting, you have the option to share the McRib Sandwich price. For now, this price is only shown if the sighting is confirmed.

Sample of Reporting a McRib with price details

In the Find a McRib area, when results are returned for the McRib, confirmed sightings with prices will now show the price of the McRib Sandwich at that location. If confirmed, however no price was provided the display will continue to show “YES!!!” as it had been showing.

Sample of Finding a McRib with price details

Finally, on the Map itself, when you click on confirmed sightings with price details provided, you will now see the McRib price shown.

Sample of the Map with price details

That is all for this McRib Roundup. Thank you for your continued support, and for sharing your McRib sightings on the webpage!

McRib

2023 McRib US Outlook

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Happy October! It is that time of year when we start thinking about if the McRib sandwich will be back anywhere in the United States. Below is what we now about the 2023 McRib season thus far.

Today.com is reporting that they have had confirmation from McDonald’s that the McRib WILL BE BACK in November 2023! While this is great news, they have been told that the McRib will be back at limited participating locations instead of a nationwide release. No specific information as provided to how long the promotion would last. That said, we expect it will be longer than the limited release last year. Earlier, Snackolater had reported the McRib will be back as well. There was however some confusion to their information as the image shared had a past release date.

We will soon be starting our efforts to track the availability to which locations will potentially offer the McRib. As employees typically have a more limited release plan, calling too soon can result in conflicting results. Now that we are in October, we are getting close enough that we have more certainty to the information collected. More details about the 2023 McRib release in the US will be shared as we have them.

Don’t forget as the McRib returns to share where you had a McRib on our webpage! With a more limited release again this year, fans in McRibless markets will be looking to make travel plans.

Last McRib?

October 23, 2022 McRib Update

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US

This week marks the more official kick-off to the 2022 season! October 26, 2022 will see many locations that have been planning to offer the sandwich bring the McRib to the menu. Here is an example from Nashville supporting this release date.

While we wait for this day to arrive, many locations have started their soft launches for the McRib this year. Much like my personal experience, many fans are reporting that the McRib was available upon request, however there was no signage for the McRib yet nor was the sandwich available on the mobile app or via the in-store kiosk. Expect promotional materials prior to the 26th, in fact my local store put up signage today.

October 23, 2022 US McRib reports
McRib Reports in the US as of October 23, 2022.
October 23, 2022 US confirmed McRib reports
Confirmed McRib Reports in the US as of October 23, 2022.

Farewell Tour?

Last McRib?
Will this be the end of the McRib?

The more interesting item this season is that many locations are promoting the McRib this year as a “Farewell Tour”. Some fans are indicating that after talking with the store manager that their manager has been told this is the last year for the McRib. Some have signs that say “Enjoy it like it’s your last” or “This could be your last bite”, which are a bit disturbing in the sense of the McRib being gone, or perhaps even more as some have suggested a more threatening tone.

More promotion of this “Farewell Tour” can be found on the McDonald’s site. I suspect we will start seeing more material as the nationwide release gets closer. Notice that their posting is also showing November 20th as the end of the nationwide campaign.

McRib description from the McDonald’s Site as of October 23, 2022


Purely speculation at this time, however this promotion could be a hint that next year will NOT be a nationwide release. We are not that far removed from the less favorable McRib years where only select sales groups decided to offer the McRib, sometimes at the dismay of individual store owners.

This could also be a sales strategy to see if this will drive even more sales of the McRib this year. In previous years, McDonald’s has utilized the McRib offering as a way to round out their quarterly numbers. We have been told in the past the McRib was going away, only to see the sandwich return in some form the following year if limited or even smaller (McRib JR). This makes it hard to believe the sandwich would be on the way out the door, even if the Hamburglar was behind this scheme.

Globally

McRib season is unfortunately coming toward an end in Central America. Guatemala ended their promotion this past week. The McRib remains on the menu for now in Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Based on how long Guatemala offered the McRib, it will not be long before it leaves Central America for the season.

McRib Lover Listing from October 2022
Bacon McRib from October 2022

Malta is still going strong with their McRib offering. They recently shared this all too real scenario for fans of the McRib.

McDonald’s Malta Shared this advertisement

Germany is a year round fan of the McRib, however we also had a report and confirmation there this past week.

October German McRib
German McRib courtesy of Ben and Trish

How you can help

As we get closer to the release date, please be on the lookout for the McRib and report the return when it is on menus in your area. We know that the locations that are first to offer the McRib are generally the first to see it go. It is much appreciated having help from fans like you to help other fans find the sandwich. If you find the McRib, please drop a report on our map, and then if you purchase the sandwich please send us a receipt showing the date, store, and price of the McRib sandwich at your location.

2022 October Trick or Treat?

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We recently were alerted by fellow McRib fan Carla C (thank you!) that there was evidence shared online of details about a 2022 October Release. The following “Employment Calendar” was shared in a group on social media.

McDonalds Employment Calendar showing the McRib returning October 4th, 2022 (photo from "Forever Fall and Halloween" Facebook group)
McDonalds Employment Calendar showing the McRib returning October 4th, 2022 (photo from “Forever Fall and Halloween” Facebook group)

Note that on October 4th the McRib sandwich is shown! The tile floor is the classic McDonalds look, and the other offerings listed suggest that this is not a fabrication.

I have been calling around to stores to see if I could capture more details. One store confirmed that the McRib would be back in October. This location was unable to confirm the specific date. Another location indicates that they would have it this fall. They could not be more specific as no product has arrived yet so the date was not yet certain. Other locations contacts had no additional details, however with the potential release a couple of weeks away this is not unexpected.

Additional data suggests that the release will be mid-month to late month. In addition to the image above, there are images floating around suggesting that the “Halloween Pails” event will start October 18th, 2022. This would further the idea that the October 4th date is the date product should begin arriving. Note that the Halloween Pails are shown October 4th, however the calendar shows these begin to be sold the 18th.


If/when you find a McRib where you are traveling, please remember to add your sighting on our map. Please also drop us an email with a receipt showing the location of purchase, and showing the McRib purchase so that we are able to mark your sighting as confirmed.

2020 US McRib release has been delayed

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Update (October 30, 2020) : McRib to return nationwide for a limited time in United States starting December 2, 2020. More details found in Business Insider

Earlier details :

Earlier we had reported that the US McRib release was going to be late October into early November. This was based on information gathered from individual stores and also information shared from fans that have access to some of these details. Unfortunately, our latest information is suggesting that the 2020 year of bad news has struck again. Specifically in this case, the 2020 US McRib release has been delayed.

What we know currently is there are stores that have already received the McRib boxes used to serve the sandwich. These same locations have not yet received the McRib product components themselves. Some locations we spoke with indicated they know the McRib is scheduled to return, however they could only say they were expecting it sometime yet this year. Another location indicated that their store calendar still has a meeting slated for this week to cover the McRib release. This calendar reference may be a relic of a point in time where they expected to have a release next week or shortly after.

Why delayed?

The question becomes, why has the return of the McRib been delayed? We know fans are always excited for the return. We also know the McRib continues to provide 4th Quarter sales momentum for McDonald’s. Thus it is unlikely that McDonald’s would have wanted to hold back unless there was an outside influence. One fan (thank you John) shared a theory that his source was suggesting that the reason for delay seems to be related to constraint in the supply line due to COVID, specifically the Pork.

The theory of supply constraint has merit. Just this week The Guardian shared a story this week, How does one of the world’s biggest pork firms go bust during a boom? which mentions that in the first five months of 2020 there was a 531% increase in Pork exports to China. This appears to be a response to a much larger problem in China with a lack of food, detailed in a story published earlier this month in the Washington Post China’s mealtime appeal amid food supply worries: Don’t take more than you can eat. At a time with reduced production in the US due to COVID, this international demand has put a lot of pressure on Pork availability in the US consumer markets as well.

Where does that leave us?

The good news, is that it appears that the Pork market is stabilizing. The National Hog Farmer shared this week that Hog prices are recovering. Most encouraging for access to Pork in the US markets was an image they shared showing overall export pressure. This chart shows the collective export volume is starting to normalize with previous years. The end result is that availability for Pork products may increase in US markets as the year continues.

Chart: U.S. pork exports to major markets, carcass weight (Monthly)
Export demand to Asia is falling, which may give way to more broad Pork availability yet this year

In summary, don’t give up yet, it still looks like we will be seeing McRibs within the next month or two. We will continue to dig into what the status of the 2020… 2021(?) US McRib release. As we find more information we will be certain to share it.

Be sure to follow us here on our McRib Locator Blog, Facebook, and Twitter for all the most up to date #McRib and #McRibLocator information.

2019 McRib US finale approaches

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The 2019 McRib US finale approaches. We are hearing from more and more fans indicating that the sandwich is no longer available at their local stores. Other locations indicate that little time remains before the sandwich leaves their menus. As inventory drops, we are also hearing about some locations out of buns resulting in make shift McRib assembly.

Late Season McRib run

While some are enjoying their double digit count McRibs, like other parts of the country the nearest confirmed report for us was over an hour away. Not wanting to miss out chance, we recently traveled 1.5 hours out to Menomonie, WI where the McRib was still on the menu. It was as tasty as always, and the store looked great having been renovated since our last visit here a few years ago.

Late 2019 season McRib from Menomonie, WI
Late 2019 season McRib with Xtra Pickles from Menomonie, WI
2019 season digital advertisement from Menomonie, WI

After I ordered I found out that this location would only be offering the McRib 2019 finale for about one more week (ending around November 9th, 2019). Taking the place of McRib as the speciality item at this store will be the Eggnog Shake.

Help others find the McRib

With inventory running out, let’s help fans get the McRib while they can! If you find a McRib make sure to report it at http://mcriblocator.com/report.html and send us a photo of your receipt. Make sure your receipt shows the location and date purchased as well as your McRib order. Send your confirmation photo to photos@mcriblocator.com . Thank you!