By Heather Haddon

The return of McDonald's Snack Wraps has been a hit with customers -- and a hit to the Golden Arches' lettuce supplies.

Some McDonald's locations have run short of lettuce and other toppings after the chain this month brought back the fried chicken strips rolled in tortillas, according to restaurant operators and a company message viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

In one communication roughly a week ago, McDonald's told U.S. franchisees affected by the shortages to hold off on adding shredded lettuce to McChicken sandwiches to help preserve restaurants' leafy green supplies. For customers unhappy with lettuce-free McChicken sandwiches, restaurant operators were instructed to offer McNuggets or a McDouble burger instead.

McDonald's said the lettuce outages were brief, and now resolved, and other ingredient shortages have been temporary. The company said it followed projections as to needed supplies for the Snack Wrap launch, but a lot of customers showed up.

"We've been blown away by the response," McDonald's said Friday.

McDonald's stock closed 1% lower at $297.07. The company's shares are up 2.5% so far this year, versus a 4.9% gain for a restaurant subindex of the S&P 500.

The surge in Snack Wrap sales is welcome news for the world's largest burger chain after a tough run. McDonald's U.S. sales dropped 3.6% in its most recent quarter compared with last year as consumers -- particularly lower-income patrons -- pulled back on spending. The company has been pushing deals and introducing new products in an effort to woo consumers back.

Snack Wraps were a McDonald's menu staple until 2016, when they were phased out to simplify operations and make room for other options. Fans have lobbied for their return, including through online petitions and messages.

"One of my main motivators that keeps me going throughout the day is my future plan of purchasing 4 snack wraps," a Virginia customer wrote in an email to McDonald's, which the company shared.

McDonald's brought back Snack Wraps on July 10, pricing them at $2.99, below some rivals' chicken wraps.

Visits to McDonald's on July 10 were 11.4% higher than the Thursday daily average so far this year, according to Placer.ai, which uses phone location data to track consumer patterns. Traffic was up 7% on July 11 and 9% on July 12, the firm said.

Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 18, 2025 17:52 ET (21:52 GMT)

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