McDonald’s has announced it is closing its CosMc’s restaurants, which had been described as an attempt to rival Starbucks, with “CosMc’s-inspired flavors” instead being deployed to conventional McDonald’s sites as part of an “upcoming U.S. beverage test.”
Newsweek contacted McDonald’s for comment on Monday via email outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
McDonald’s announced it was launching standalone CosMc sites, named after a McDonaldland alien mascot, in 2023 with restaurants planned in Illinois and Texas.
CosMc focused heavily on hot and cold drinks in a move the BBC suggested was aimed at competing in the “fast-coffee space” with companies such as Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Closing its CosMc sites suggests McDonald’s has failed to build a competitive rival to these big hitters in the beverage market, though the company insists it will be applying lessons learned to its other restaurants.
McDonald’s
What To Know
In a statement released on May 23, McDonald’s said that from late June it would be “closing all standalone pilot CosMc’s locations on a rolling basis and discontinuing the CosMc’s app.”
However, the company also said that, “building on the insights” it gained from the CosMc pilot, “CosMc’s-inspired flavors will be landing at McDonald’s as part of the upcoming U.S. beverage test.”
According to ABC News, McDonald’s ended up opening eight CosMc’s restaurants or drive-through sites, one near its Chicago headquarters and the other seven in Texas, with an initial plan to open 10 in the Lone Star State. However only five of the CosMc’s branches were still open when Friday’s announcement was made.
The locations focused heavily on drinks such as churro frappé and boba drinks, with a smaller selection of food including McDonald’s classics like the McFlurry and McMuffin.
However, the launch in December 2023 coincided with a boycott campaign targeted at McDonald’s after a franchise in Israel said it would donate meals to the Israel Defense Forces following the October 7 2023 Hamas attacks.
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What People Are Saying
In its statement, McDonald’s said: “What started as a belief that McDonald’s had the right to win in the fast-growing beverage space quickly came to life as a multi-location, small format, beverage-focused concept. It allowed us to test new, bold flavors and different technologies and processes without impacting the existing McDonald’s experience for customers and crew.
On X, formerly Twitter, David Henkes, a food and beverage industry expert, wrote: “Some of the least surprising news, particularly since they’re now rolling many of the innovations into the broad McD system. But that’s what an innovation incubator is for.”
What Happens Next
The remaining CosMc’s restaurants will now close down. It remains to be seen how many of their products will be introduced to mainstream McDonald’s branches as part of the company’s upcoming “beverage test.”
Earlier this month, McDonald’s announced it was seeking to recruit “up to 375,000 restaurant employees” across the United States over the summer of 2025.