Why is McDonald’s changing its burger recipe? Some say it’s the threat of competition.

Specifically, the fast-food giant has outlined four key changes it’s making to its burgers, with implementation scheduled nationwide by 2024.

The buns will be “softer” and “pillowy.” The cheese will be “perfectly melted.” The patties will have a “juicier, caramelized flavor” as a result of white onions being added while the meat is still cooking. And finally, there will be more Big Mac sauce slathered on for “tangy sweetness.”

Veteran fast-food analyst Mark Kalinowski says McDonald’s is in a secure financial position — the company’s stock is up 9% this year, after all — but that it’s always mindful about maintaining its status as America’s top burger destination.

And that means it’s likely mindful of how the burger world has evolved, with so many fast-casual burger-centric chains, such as Shake Shack and Five Guys, becoming more established over the years, Kalinowski says. And that’s to say nothing of how other fast-food chains have built solid burger programs —specifically, Kalinowski points to Wendy’s as a growing threat. 

The bottom line? McDonald’s “is No. 1 and they want to stay No. 1,” says Kalinowski.

Alper Uyanik, a founder of Harlem Burger Co., an independent restaurant in New York City, says the changes that McDonald’s is making are very much the culinary methods that many fast-casual burger restaurants have in place, including his own. If anything, he says McDonald’s could go a step further — say, by brushing its buns with butter, another popular technique embraced by the “better burger” movement.

Uyanik says this is still no small investment on the part of McDonald’s, noting that it takes added time to toast those buns or make other improvements. And for a company that sells millions and millions of burgers, the phrase “time is money” truly applies, Uyanik explains.

So, why is McDonald’s making the investment? Again, Uyanik says the company must be aware of how consumers are gravitating to other burger establishments.

But did McDonald’s actually need to call attention to the changes, especially since, in Kalinowski’s words, they’re more “evolutionary than revolutionary.” 

If anything, Tom Donohoe, chief marketing officer of Cuisine Solutions, a food-service company, says McDonald’s may have unwittingly called attention to the quality (or lack thereof) of its burgers in their current form. 

Donohoe says the message from McDonald’s to its customers boils down to this:  “Sorry, we’ve been selling you cold cheese.”

McDonald’s said in a press release that its reconceived burgers have already been introduced in international markets, such as Canada, Australia and Belgium, and they’ve received “rave reviews.” 

Tariq Hassan, chief marketing and customer experience officer for McDonald’s in the U.S., said in a statement about the burgers, “We saw the opportunity to make a few changes in our kitchens to make them even more delicious and get back to what people loved most about them in the first place…making them hotter, juicier and tastier.”