Article

Quick-serve menus cross international borders

Menu items indicate tastes of a region.

June 6, 2007 by Valerie Killifer — senior editor, NetWorld Alliance

Ethnic adventures are one of the top menu trends in the United States, says Nancy Kruse, president of Atlanta-based The Kruse Company. But travel outside of the U.S. and the cuisine can be as varied as the geography.

 

To cater to their regional customers living in the United States and beyond its borders, quick-serve restaurants must alter their menus to reflect regional flavors.

 

"It makes a great deal of sense to tailor your basic menu to your audience at hand," said Kruse. "You fail your customer if you fail to take into account their food preferences."

 

For the past 20 years, Atlanta-based Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits has had an international presence, with locations in Northern Asia, the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere. But it took a while for the company to generate menus indicative of the chain's international locales.

 

"The problem was a lot of these taste profiles weren't necessarily effective or appropriate for many of the test markets we went into," said Dave Smith, Popeyes chief operating officer. "Over the years, we tailored those items and took some off – especially with the sides that we didn't sell. Cajun rice is a big seller in United States, but not internationally. So, we can make rice with roasted vegetables and take it to the Middle East. We try to be as flexible as we can with those side items that sell well."

 

Popeyes isn't the only chain changing their menus at international establishments.

 

McDonald's serves a Grilled Chicken Teppanyaki Burger — beef cooked with an iron griddle — at its Singapore locations and Burger King serves its line of Crown Jewels in New Zealand (The Crown Jewels line consists of a beef and chicken burgers with flavors such as mango-lime, aioli and avocado).  

 

Kruse said diners at international locations would be disappointed if their local quick-serve establishment did not offer menu flavors indigenous to the region.

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"Clearly, there would be very little reason for them to patronize the establishment," Kruse said. "I don't mean to say the foreign consumer isn't interested in American food ... but you lead with the familiar in order to make the core customer comfortable. Overtime, you can introduce the exotic but it has to be based on menu comfort and familiarity."

 

Research and development

 

When it comes to menu planning for a diverse consumer base, operators can sometimes be the best source of ideas.

 

"In some cases, especially early on, the idea (for Popeyes) was to replicate what we had in the U.S. But franchisees know the market and have a really extensive understanding of the customer base," said Steve Nilson, Popeyes director of international marketing and menu development.

 

Last year, Popeyes gathered its Latin franchisees for a menu ideation session.

 

"Out of that came a lot of crazy ideas and a lot of good ones," Nilson said.

 

One idea generated from the session is the chain's chicken deluxe sandwich with guacamole spread, which has received a "great response," Nilson said. Another idea was a proprietary chicken soup that is rolling out this year.

 

Popeyes menu staples in Korea include red beans and pumpkin biscuits while in Honduras calamari is a top seller.  And outside of a few top-selling seafood items like shrimp and crawfish, the chain sticks to its menu fundamentals, but innovates with its side dishes.

 

"There's a well-defined menu development process that we follow here," Nilson said. "Ideation may involve suppliers or other creative resources that we tap into. Once we have a broad list of items, we start to do consumer work. Once an item is ready for the menu, we test market in some of our geographies, whether here or internationally."

 

Also part of the R&D process is the studying of flavor trends.

 

For example, rice is used a lot more in Latin America than in the U.S.; Indonesians prefer a ball of rice wrapped in biscuit as opposed to just a biscuit; and in the Philippines everything is served with a side of pasta.

 

"What we've tried to do is stay as close and true to Popeyes as we can, but I am always amazed at some of the flavors," Smith said. "I think generally it's always interesting to see what passes here in the States is definitely not the case as you pass through the four walls of this country."