Dan Coudreaut trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has performed gastronomic feats in a variety of kitchens. But the creation that has had the greatest impact on the nation’s palate started two years ago in the test kitchen of McDonald’s Corp., where he has been director of culinary innovation since 2004.
When management asked for a chicken item that would appeal to drive-through customers, Coudreaut (pronounced koo-DROW) huddled with helpers in his stainless-steel test kitchen and came up with 85 ideas.
After the “tacadilla” sank in consumer tests, Coudreaut took breaded chicken used in the restaurant’s Chicken Selects strips, topped it with shredded cheddar jack cheese and lettuce, added a few squirts of ranch sauce and wrapped it in a flour tortilla. McDonald’s called it a snack wrap and put it on the menu for $1.29.
After six months, the wrap has become one of its most successful new products. Early sales have exceeded company projections by 20 percent.
Years ago, McDonald’s relied on creative franchisees to concoct new items. Restaurant owners invented the Big Mac, the Egg McMuffin and other favorites. Now McDonald’s uses a far more sophisticated system led by 41-year-old Coudreaut.
He winnows as many as 1,800 ideas a year down to a handful that must be tasty, inexpensive and easy to prepare.
Known at headquarters as Chef Dan, he was lured to McDonald’s by a headhunter. “You can impact 250 people a night at the hotel or 26 million (a day) at McDonald’s,” he says.
Finding products that work has been tricky. Coudreaut considered adding a shrimp salad but couldn’t because, he says, McDonald’s would need so much shrimp that it threatened to deplete the nation’s shrimp supply.
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