Taco Bell announced today that it would soon begin to commit high crimes against food and your body beginning soon and at 7 AM. That’s right, the company has decided that it’s time they begin making something approximating breakfast.
Few reading this have not heard someone in their life complaining about the limited hours that McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) serves this meal. That’s because it’s a massive market that hovers on or around $50 billion a year. That’s not a typo: the limited-service breakfast business is $50 billion a year and Taco Bell is looking to get its $700 million, estimates restaurant consulting firm Technomic.
The waffle taco
Playing to what we’ve become, the chain is looking at “one-handed” items that can be eaten while a smartphone is held in the other hand. Things like the “Waffle Taco” – a warm waffle wrapped around bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, cheese and syrup guaranteed to slowly begin your descent into wrong.
The A.M Crunchwrap will see scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheese and bacon or sausage in a warm tortilla. And Cinnabon Delights will effectively allow you to “pop” smaller Cinnabon’s in a single bit. You will receive an order of ten of these frosted one bites in each serving.
Despite efforts from Burger King, Wendy’s, Subway and others, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) has long dominated the breakfast wars and it remains to be seen if Taco Bell will have more success than the many that have come before it to the morning fiesta.
CEO chimes in
“We’re going to reinvent breakfast,” insists Taco Bell President Brian Niccol. ‘We don’t use buns or burgers or circular things at breakfast – that’s not who we are.” OK? Square tortillas then?
Not only will consumers totally get it, he says, but it also broadens Taco Bell’s appeal. ‘It’s a transformational moment for the brand,” he says. “It will expand our connection with consumers.’
Presently Taco Bell has been testing breakfast in about 850 restaurants throughout the county with results that have “exceeded our expectations,” according to Niccol who declined to be more specific when he was asked about sales numbers.
At the same time, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) has been looking at extending its breakfast hours. Meaning that they will be serving breakfast for an additional hour, but you will still arrive at the restaurant three minutes too late.
“The hardest thing is getting people to change their breakfast routines,” he says. “The way you do that is to better meet their needs.”
