Fans of McDonald's famous McRib sandwich will now have to wait even longer to get the popular meal. The fast food chain is postponing the sandwich's limited release from late October until the end of December. 

According to a memo received by Advertising Age on Sept. 17, the national council for McDonald's, the Operations National Advertising Fund, stated the folowing concerning the decision:

"After looking at ways to strengthen the fourth-quarter 2012 OPNAD calender," it will now be pushed back until the holidays in late December."

McDonald's is delaying the highly-coveted pulled pork sandwich in hopes that it will help them exceed their December 2011 sales profit, which was 9.8 percent. The fourth quarter of last year was reportedly one of the lowest selling winters in many years for the company.

However, McDonald's is not the only chain that lagged in sales during the respective period.  

Restaurant analyst and managing director of Hedgeye Risk Management, Howard Penney, spoke to the site about the impact of weather on store sales.

"The winter is seasonally a slower period. A lot of people underestimated the massive impact the weather had on sales," he said. 

McDonald's will look to roll out two new products in place of the McRib this fall - the Cheddar Bacon Angus burger and a similar chicken sandwich. The two items will be considered premium with higher prices. Most likely, the respective products will be sold for a limited time only, as the company is looking to bulk up its inventory of select items in the years to come. 

Due to its limited release, the McRib has increasingly built up a large fan base, which has regularly resulted in business boosts upon its release. Loyals of the tasty sandwich have been known to travel long distances to obtain the McRib.

Although the release of the McRib is being delayed until December 2012, it will likely be phased out the very next month for another new product, the Fish McBites.

Tags: McDonalds