Taco Bell has expanded its tests of a new breakfast menu and a home-meal-replacement product. For the breakfast test, the chain has added more locations in Orange County, Calif., according to the Fast Food Maven blog.
The test includes: Sausage biscuit, Ham & Cheese Melt, breakfast quesadillas, sausage burrito, hash brown and sausage biscuit with gravy, featuring gravy served like a sauce between the sausage and biscuit. Most items are priced under $2. The breakfast menu varies by location, with about a dozen Orange County stores testing the new products. Taco Bell president Greg Creed told investors late last year that the chain is confident in the breakfast test, the third one for the chain. The test has greater potential because it is co-branded with well known concepts, including Jimmy Dean sausage, Seattle's Best Coffee and Cinnabon.
If all goes as planned, the menu should launch in 2011, but the company may want to wait until the economy improves. Mintel reported this week that consumers are spending less at breakfast, even as restaurants launched a record-breaking 460 items in the daypart in 2009.
The Orange County locations also are testing a variety of desserts, including brownies, cupcakes and an Atomic Bacon Bomber, all dry and uninspiring, according to Fast Food Maven.
Home-meal-replacement product test
Taco Bell also is testing family meals. The Louisville, Ky., market is offering the Take Home Taco Bar for $14.99, featuring two trays, each divided into three compartments, one filled with one pound of seasoned ground beef, refried beans and seasoned rice. The other filled with a "half head of lettuce" (shredded), diced fresh tomatoes, reduced-fat sour cream, and shredded cheese. The meal also comes with tortilla chips, a small container of chunky salsa and 10 crunchy shells or soft tortillas — or five of each.
The Take Home Taco Bar is designed to feed a family of four, but an additional order of five shells plus more ground beef also is available. The meal comes with instructions for reheating. The Louisville market is supporting the test with local advertising, including a Tuesday special price of $12.99.
Creed told investors late last year that the home-meal-replacement product is designed to address the cooking-at-home trend. The family meal has done well in early tests and requires no capital investment.
