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Wendy's: Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger is brand's most anticipated new product

Earlier this year, the pub-style cheeseburger outperformed any other promotional hamburger in test markets in Wendy's recent history.

June 25, 2013

After months of testing in select markets, Wendy's is rolling out its Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger to all restaurants in the U.S. and Canada within the next two weeks.

A press release called the new cheeseburger Wendy's most anticipated product. Earlier this year, the pub-style cheeseburger outperformed any other promotional hamburger in test markets in Wendy's recent history.

"Wendy's knows food trends. We tapped into consumers' love of pretzels, and transformed the iconic snack into an artisan-crafted cheeseburger," said Craig Bahner, Wendy's chief marketing officer. "We constantly search for foods that customers crave, and we've created the ultimate mash-up of three American loves – pretzels, bacon and cheeseburgers — to deliver new standards of quality and taste."

The artisan-crafted cheeseburger features:

• An artisan-baked, authentic pretzel bun: Wendy's pretzel buns are made using the same authentic process of traditional soft pretzels. Each pretzel bun is also hand cut, giving each one its own special appearance.
• Flavor layering: The cheeseburger combines a spring mix made with nine different greens, hand-sliced red onion and tomatoes with 100-percent fresh, never frozen beef and cheddar cheese sauce. Natural cheddar cheese, sweet & smoky honey mustard, and center-cut Applewood smoked bacon round out the ingredients served in the toasted pretzel bun.

The recommended price of the new product is $4.69 (prices may vary).

Pretzel bread — and artisan breads in general — have been on trend within the past year. Blimpie and Cousins Subs both introduced pretzel bread recently and Subway has also experimented with the platform. Earlier this year, Wendy's added an artisan flatbread to its sandwich offerings.

In August, Bahner said breads are a focus for the brand. "We think bread carriers are a way to leverage our capability and a way to differentiate," he said.

Read more about food and beverage introductions.