McDonald's created plenty of excitement last year when its Canadian chains rolled the iconic Big Mac into a wrap. This year, U.S. stores are touting the portable platform.
A&W Restaurants hasn't made quite the media splash with its new wrap line, but customers are snatching them up.
"We're getting solid mix in our high markets" from the new wraps, which include the Papa Wrap and a chicken wrap, said A&W director of brand marketing Tim Matis.
The Papa Wrap features a 100 percent U.S. beef patty cut into halves, the Papa signature sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded onion, two tomato slices, pickles and chopped onion, all in a tortilla. The Chicken Wrap folds the ingredients from its crispy chicken sandwich — crispy chicken patty, lettuce and salad dressing plus shredded cheese into a tortilla.
The wraps retail for $1.99.
Matis said it's merely coincidence that the Papa Wrap debut happened about the same time as the Mac Snack Wrap U.S. rollout.
A&W chief marketing officer Barry Westrum even joked that McDonald's may have picked up on their idea. "We're thrilled McDonald's has copied our great idea, and we just think if they want to draft off our ability to make news in the marketplace, well, we might just let them," he said.
McDonald's wrap strategy
McDonald's Mac Snack Wrap is the first beef wrap for that chain, which has had grilled and fried chicken wraps for a few years. The wraps meet customers' needs for portability and offer something less messy to eat in the car, said McDonald's USA external communications manager Molly McKenna.
The McDonald's Mac Snack Wrap features a half burger patty wrapped in a tortilla with signature Big Mac toppings: special sauce, lettuce, cheese, diced onions and pickles. The wraps are generally priced between $1.49 and $1.99.
Matis said A&W's wraps have been in the product pipeline for some time as the chain looked for ways to meet consumer desire for more portable and affordable options. It's also a way to leverage the popularity of the signature Papa Burger.
A&W has more wraps planned, but Westrum couldn't say which existing menu items might also be rolled up in a tortilla in coming months.
"We think this is a big idea," he said. "Based on the response we've seen so far, you can imagine a lot of opportunity that we might have in this thing down the road."
