- Big fast-food chains are launching drink-focused spinoffs or in-store beverage programs to capture high-margin specialty drink sales as customers opt for smaller, affordable treats.
- Chick-fil-A’s Daybright (opened Oct. 30, 2025 in Hiram, Georgia) sells coffees, teas, smoothies, and light items with a standalone brand and operations separate from its chicken menu.
- McDonald’s ended its standalone CosMc’s experiment by mid-2025 due to complexity and weak performance, but is rolling successful drinks into hundreds of core restaurants.
- The opportunity is lower space, labor, and equipment needs with strong margins, while the risks are operational complexity, brand dilution, and uncertain long-term unit economics once novelty fades.
Read More
The rise of beverage-focused spinoffs by large fast-food operators like Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, and Taco Bell reflects a broader industry shift toward smaller-ticket, high-margin offerings. For consumers squeezed by inflation, drinks are perceived as affordable indulgences compared to full meals; for operators, they present lower labor and capital intensity, and opportunities to drive traffic outside traditional peak times. [primary article]
Chick-fil-A’s debut of Daybright represents a bold diversification. It is the company’s first venture that excludes core items — no chicken, just specialty coffees, smoothies, teas, fizzes, and light fare. The brand retains key operational traits of Chick-fil-A (dual drive-thrus, hours, closing on Sundays) but has constructed entirely new supply chains (e.g. Thrive Farmers coffee), menu development, and branding under Red Wagon Ventures.
McDonald’s CosMc’s was created as a test lab to explore beverage trends — flavor innovation, drive-thru traffic patterns, and menu flexibility — but ultimately was closed because the standalone model added complexity and underperformed in sales.[primary article] The closure did not end the effort; McDonald’s is now embedding successful beverage innovations into core restaurants, with tests in over 500 locations for premium drinks inspired by CosMc’s.
Taco Bell’s expansion of its Live Más Café follows a similar path: adding beverage-focused elements inside existing restaurants. This model offers lower risk relative to full spinoff stores. [primary article]
Strategically, companies engaging in beverage spinoffs must balance innovation with operational scalability. Core risks include: profitability thresholds (can beverage units cover fixed costs?), cannibalization (do drinks erode meal-sale volumes?), supply chain and training for complex drink execution, and maintaining brand coherence. It’s also unclear whether the novelty of concepts like CosMc’s or Daybright has staying power as consumers shift attention rapidly through trends.
Further, pricing presents a tightrope: many of Daybright’s beverages are priced near or above $3-4 for teas/lemonades, up to ~$9-10 for large smoothies, plus additional upcharges for proteins or add-ons. Whether consumers will accept this premium consistently outside flagship locations remains to be seen.
Supporting Notes
- Chick-fil-A’s Daybright opened October 30, 2025 in Hiram, Georgia. Menu features specialty coffees, smoothies, teas, juices, light food items; core Chick-fil-A menu items (e.g. chicken) are not served.
- Daybright operates Monday-Saturday 6 a.m.–9 p.m., dual-lane drive-thru and full dining room, closed Sundays.
- Sample prices: signature coffees $3.95–$7.95; Iced teas/lemonades $2.95–$4.95 depending on type/size; 24-oz smoothies $9.95 with optional protein add-ons.
- CosMc’s menu included matcha lattes, turmeric lattes, slushies with popping candy, frozen sour cherry energy drink; tests of about 10 “premium” drinks to be rolled into over 500 U.S. McDonald’s restaurants starting Sept 2, 2025.
- CosMc’s-app discontinued; McDonald’s will phase beverage innovations into core operations rather than maintain standalone stores.
<li] McDonald’s launched CosMc’s in 2023; opened ~8 locations (1 in Illinois, 7 in Texas); closed all by late June 2025.