McDonald's Japan adds new 'Grand' size to its menu…but are the portions really supersize?
We find out if the new drinks and fries deliver as much as promised.
McDonald's Japan recently surprised everyone by announcing it would be introducing a new 'Grand' size to its menu. Available for fries and popular drinks, the new supersize is said to serve up 70 percent more fries than a medium and twice as much drink as a medium, but we were curious to find out if McDonald's would really deliver on this promise so we bought a bunch of the new sizes as soon as they were released on 21 May.
▼ The new Grand fries cost 480 yen (US$3.35) each.
Starting with the fries, when we stood the Grand next to the Medium, the difference was plain to see. The larger pack towered over the smaller one, but curiously, where the Medium was filled to overflowing, the Grand had plenty of room left up top.
▼ The extra space up top was uniform across all four of the Grand fries purchased.
▼ Could the chain be overstating its promise of '1.7 times' more fries?
Fearing this might be some sort of conspiracy, we decided to get to the bottom of the matter by emptying the contents from one of the larger packs out onto a plate…
▼ …and weighing the pack itself.
With the pack weighing 10 grams (0.35 ounces) exactly, we would now be able to weigh each of the four packs to determine their weight in fries.
▼ Deducting 10 grams for the cardboard packaging, the first pack contained 225.5 grams of fries while the second contained 245 grams.
▼ The third pack contained 247.5 grams…
▼…while the fourth and final pack contained 214.5 grams.
According to the official McDonald's website, the standard weight for a serving of medium-sized fries is 135 grams, so if we multiply that amount by 1.7, each Grand should contain 229.5 grams as the standard.
Going over the numbers again, the fries we tested weighed in at 225.5, 245, 247.5 and 214.5 grams. With half of them containing more than 229.5 grams and half containing less, it's a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to getting your money's worth from the new size, but all in all, it wasn't too far off the mark. Incidentally, the standard weight for the Large size is 170 grams, so at least all the fries delivered more compared to what you could previously get in one size at Japan's golden arches.
After eating a pack of Grand fries, it certainly filled us to the brim in a way we hadn't experienced before, and we were in need of washing it down with a Grand Sokenbicha (a popular brand of Japanese blended tea by Coca-Cola), priced at 420 yen.
Other drinks that can be upsized to a Grand are Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta Grape, Fanta Melon, and Grand Qoo White Grape.
▼ Is the Grand really twice as big as the Medium?
▼ The Medium weighed in at 437 grams, so by that reckoning, the Grand should weigh 874 grams.
▼ However, upon weighing the Grand, it fell slightly short, at 862 grams.
After conducting our experiment, we were a little disappointed to find that three of the five Grand-sized items delivered slightly less than expected. Sure, it may not have been much of a discrepancy, but in a country where big chains like Lawson can deliver way more than the 40-percent extra promised, and at no extra cost, it's a shame that McDonald's wasn't able to over-deliver in the same way. Still, after the great McDonald's fry shortages of 2014, 2021 and 2022, when we couldn't purchase medium or large fries at all, we're happy to now have four sizes to choose from, and with McDonald's not giving an end-date to the offer, we hope they'll be staying on the menu permanently.
Photos©SoraNews24
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