OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Taco Bell vows to reinvent the taco, Tim Hortons puts casserole in a bowl, Starbucks goes blonde, and more of the top news from the restaurant industry’s heavy hitters.
In the face of a 2% decline in third-quarter U.S. revenue, Taco Bell is hoping to reinvigorate sales with a pipeline of new products set to begin rollout in the first quarter of 2012. David C. Novak, chairman and CEO of parent company Yum! Brands, said in a conference call that he expects the new items will provide a “significant uplift in our business.” Among the chain’s R&D plans? “Reinventing the taco,” Novak said.
While the company won’t elaborate on just what that means, it is testing a taco in California called the Doritos Locos Tacos--featuring a shell made from nacho-cheese-flavored Doritos. A long-fabled marriage of two favorite snack foods, websites and social media are already creating a phenomenon out of the Doritos Locos Tacos.
Meanwhile, coffee-centric chain Tim Hortons is boasting that it’s the first national QSR in Canada to offer pasta to go. It has launched a beef lasagna casserole as part of its hot-bowl category, which includes soups and chili.
Tim Hortons sells almost three-quarters of soup served in QSRs in Canada and close to seven out of 10 bowls of chili, according to the company. The beef lasagna casserole, made with tomato sauce, ground beef, lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, basil, oregano and garlic, comes in a 10-ounce serving (along with garlic toast) and will sell in participating Canadian stores for $4.49.
Starbucks is expanding its coffee lineup with a lighter “blonde” roast, milder in body and acidity than the coffee chain’s traditional brews. Executives said customers had been asking for a lighter roast and they expect Blonde to appeal to a broad audience.
The company will begin selling its new Blonde blend in Starbucks cafes and supermarkets in the United States on Jan. 10. The Breakfast Blend is currently the lightest coffee available at Starbucks, while French Roast is at the darkest end of the roast spectrum. The last addition to Starbucks’ brewed coffee lineup was the Pike Place “everyday” brew back in 2008, which, according to the company, gave sales an incremental bump.
Domino’s Pizza reported a 33% increase in net income for the third quarter ending Sept. 11--adding to the momentum it’s gained since reformulating its pizza and going to market with a “mea culpa” ad campaign.
Domestic same-store sales rose 3.0% vs. third-quarter 2010, when sales were up 11.7%.
Everything’s better with bacon. So says KFC in the ad campaign for its new Cheesy Bacon Bowl. The chicken chain has updated its five-year-old Famous Bowl--heretofore consisting of mashed potatoes, corn, popcorn chicken, gravy and shredded cheese--with a top layer of crumbled bacon.
The Cheesy Bacon Bowl sells for $3.99 at participating restaurants, and joins two other KFC Famous Bowls--a rice bowl with corn, crispy chicken, gravy and a three-cheese blend, and a chicken and biscuit bowl with corn, white-pepper gravy and shredded cheese.
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