Fast Food Menus Get a Makeover

At three of the nation’s Fast Food giants —McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell—menu changes reflect new thinking when it comes to food inventiveness and availability.

At three of the nation’s Fast Food giants —McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell—menu changes reflect new thinking when it comes to food inventiveness and availability. According to USA Today, McDonalds will offer limited dinner and breakfast items—Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets, Egg McMuffins and hot cakes, along with beverages and desserts—on its After Midnight menu in their 24 hour stores. In our opinion breakfast items could bring more profit with faster seat turnover. The average time spent eating breakfast is 13 minutes, says NPD Group, according to an Ad Age account that also says McDonald’s is considering offering breakfast all day. Meanwhile, Wendy’s is offering some new menu items that appeal to a more discerning crowd. Their new Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger could start to differentiate the chain at a higher end of the burger scale than, say, McDonald’s or Burger King. This limited-time offer is their second this year to use premium brea, earlier it offered a Grilled Chicken Flatbread sandwich. Pretzel breads were brought to the U.S. by Austrian chef Hans Rockenwagner at 3 Square Café in Santa Monica, CA, near The Lempert Report office. If these breads have less sugar in them than white bread, it would be a boon because restaurateurs could emphasize the health aspect as well as taste. And let’s not forget about Taco Bell who have several initiatives that seem to be focusing on Millennials. For example: * A summertime test of four chicken and steak dishes in Dayton, Ohio with more than 20 grams of protein and less than 450 calories, priced between $3.59 and $5.19, reports Ad Age. * A sausage and scrambled egg inside of a taco-shaped waffle for 89 cents. * The elimination of kids meals and toys at the chain this coming winter. Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed told USA Today these meals account for half of 1% of the chain’s overall sales, and “it’s fairly inconsistent for an edgy, twenty-something brand to offer kids meals.” The Lempert Report sees multiple reasons for such changes within the fast food world. There is growing competition for low-cost, ready-to-eat foods from supermarkets, convenience stores and drug stores. Fast food chains are no longer the only ones serving fast food! America is an increasingly saturated landscape of prepared food purveyors and fast food chains need to continue to appeal to tastes, health trends and low costs if they are to remain relevant.