Is Taco Bell Pricing-Out the Competition?

Fast Casual chains were the talk of the industry trade magazines back in the day.  It seemed as if every restaurant chain wanted to be a fast casual chain.  There is a little suggestion out there today that fast casual is still the platform for growth.  Taco Bell has even started its own fast casual concept.

Regular readers of this blog know that all the while Taco Bell was testing the waters with fast casual the ‘big data’ was point to growth and profit potential with its core fast food followers.  Part of it was the fact that 50% of US consumers over the age of 18 are single according to the US Census Bureau and single consumers continue to fuel drive thru visits.

At Taco Bell it’s continued top line growth can be traced back to 2017 in a bold brand positioning choice that Taco Bell’s Chief Brand Officer made.  That brand positioning was a commitment to cater to its base consumers expanding the number of $ 1 menu items that they offer for $ 1 or less. 

If year over year same sale numbers are an indication of success and the food industry says they are Taco Bell’s numbers prove out that positioning price as a key driver of growth works.  This past week Taco Bell innovative menu development team rolled out their latest addition of a Triple Melt Burrito and Triple Melt Nachos combine these two new items puts Taco Bell very close to having 20 items for only $ 1 or less.

Small meals, snacks,  late-nite snacking, or ‘forth meal’ customer traffic counts are  more important  brand building than sales increased that are a result of menu price increases according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Johnson continued building brand value requires evolving with your consumer and at times it requires leadership that can buck industry norms and reduce check averages to build customer frequency and that is just what Taco Bell has done.  Now they did that while simultaneously edifying flavor craveability, improving service times, and improving cleanliness. 

So just what is your New Electricity? Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us