Dairy Queen has announced the launch of three new Iron Grilled Sandwiches at participating locations nationwide.
Served fresh and hot off the grill, the sandwiches include:
- Deli-style turkey with Swiss cheese
- Classic Club with deli-style turkey, ham and cheddar cheese
- Supreme BLT with seven crisp strips of savory bacon.
All are served on grilled Panini-style bread with leaf lettuce, bacon, thick-cut tomato slices and mild garlic-mayonnaise. A grilled cheese will be added to the kids' menu.
Dairy Queen added the Iron-Grilled sandwiches in an effort to fill a gap in its menu offerings and capitalize on the popularity of the sandwich segment, which was a $21 billion industry in 2007 and expected to top $28 billion in 2008.
"We just saw it as an opportunity, given the growth of sandwiches, to add something that was a little bit different and uniquely suited to our target customers in an offering that we really didn't have," said Lane Schmiesing, vice president of brand marketing of International Dairy Queen.
Consumer response to the company's soft launch in the first half of the year was strong, he said. "We've had tremendous uptake on it."
Schmiesing said customers seem to be responding to the increase in variety to the concepts' chicken and burger sandwiches and baskets as well as to the perception of having a lighter meal offering.
The total calories for the sandwiches, with everything, range from 480 for the Turkey to 550 for the Supreme BLT. The kids' Iron Grilled Cheese has 320 calories.
To add the Iron Grilled offerings to the line up, stores had to purchase a new grill, which cost less than $1,000, as well include the deli-style meats in their supply chain. Operators have responded positively to the new platform, particularly because "the addition of the sandwiches lifts total sandwich sales and total food sales," Schmiesing said.
Dairy Queen also has developed a recipe for a quesadilla that is prepared on the same grill. That offering is available in 250 stores, with more stores adding the tortilla-based sandwich, he said.
In September, the Iron Grilled Sandwich launch will be supported by new national television advertising with some local markets adding radio, print and billboard marketing. The average retail price of the new Iron Grilled Sandwich is $4.05 for the Turkey and the Classic Club, $3.80 for the Supreme BLT and $2.65 for the new kids' menu grilled cheese.
In October, Dairy Queen will begin testing a Chicken Bruschetta Iron Grilled Sandwich, a combination of grilled chicken topped with mozzarella cheese, leaf lettuce, diced tomatoes and pesto sauce.
