McDonald's CEO on the 3 food trends hein 2026

It's Chris Kempczinski's job to know what people want to eat. As CEO of McDonald's $MCD, he's responsible for one of the largest restaurant chains in the world, so when he makes a prediction, people listen.

As he does each year, Kempczinski has hopped onto Instagram to make his predictions for 2026. And he is expecting big things in three categories.

Fiber

Americans could be a lot more regular this year as Kempczinski says fiber "is going to be big." How that might play out for McDonald's is still a mystery. The company is fairly limited on fiber offerings right now, with perhaps the exception of the Fruit & Maple Oatmeal. (French fries supply some as well.)

Kempczinski isn't the only CEO expecting fiber to become the next big thing with consumers. PepsiCo $PEP CEO Ramon Laguarta, in October, said that "fiber will be the next protein."

Sweet and Spicy

"Sweet and spicy together is going to be a big food trend," Kempczinski predicted.

That's not exactly new. Hot honey has been a thing for quite a while and offshoots of that have been springing up for some time. Kempczinski has long been bullish on sauces, though. One of his predictions last year was that sauces would be the focus of many diners.

Beverage innovation

This might be a bit of a self-serving prophecy from Kempczinski. McDonald's, after all, may have closed its CosMc's stores, which were beverage focused, but it transferred the most popular of those to its flagship restaurant chain.

Other fast food companies are branching out beyond sodas as well, with Taco Bell and Chick Fil A expanding their offerings.

Kempczinski has a pretty solid track record with his predictions for food trends. Last year, he said he expected protein to be the big driver of sales, which certainly proved accurate. He also spoke of AI in fast food stores and sauces.