The state of the Hot Dog Nation

Americans love hot dogs so much they eat 20 billion "stadium steaks" a year.

 

Not only do they taste great, they're filling, versatile and easy to eat, said to Ari Wurmann. His Miami-based Franktitude is, conceptually speaking, the hot dog equivalent to Fuddrucker's and hamburgers.

 

Randy Watts, vice president, franchise operations for Nathan's Famous, agrees that much of the hot dog's appeal comes from its grab-and-go shape. "It's not messy. Although we don't like to tell people to do this: You can drive down the road, talk on your cell phone and eat a hot dog, no problem."

 

Like apple pie and watermelon, hot dog experts say frankfurters also are anchored in the American psyche to good times.

 

"Hot dogs are always associated with fun events, whether it be a baseball game or a backyard barbeque," said Tom Amberger, vice president of marketing for 345-unit Wienerschnitzel, the world's largest hot dog chain.

 

Whatever one's belief to why the dog is a mainstay, there's no doubting its place among the QSR great menu items. Not only do many burger chains and ice cream shops sell hot dogs, several major hot-dog concepts battling to be, well, the big dog.

 

 

It's hard to say when the wiener wars actually began, but what's certain is the way the battle is fought. Today's tactics involve stealth marketing. For Nathan's Famous, it's a premium sell.

 

"We've taken our hot dog and our french fries and we've surrounded them with other high-quality QSR offerings," Watts said.

 

That means Nathan's doesn't survive on franks alone. Although hot dogs and fries equal 20 percent of sales, Watts said chain offers several premium items to eliminate the "hot dog" veto vote.

 

"For hamburgers, we offer 5-ounce burger instead of a 4-ounce burger. For chicken tenders, we've always had a high-quality, gourmet-type, all-white meat chicken," Watts said. "Philadelphia cheese steaks aren't something that you find in a lot of standard QSRs."

 

Hot dog concept offerings vary greatly depending on regional tastes. Kansas City dog lovers roll over for sauerkraut and melted Swiss Cheese. Chicagoans sit up and beg for yellow mustard, pickle relish, chopped raw onion and tomato slices are favored. In North Carolina, a dog with cole slaw is called "dragging the dog through the garden," and on the streets of New York, the plainer the better.

 

Cross breeds are appearing more frequently, such as the Pastrami Dog and the New York Pizza Dog sold

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at Wienerschnitzel. Best-sellers include Corn Dogs, Chili Cheese Fries and Original Chili Dogs. Chili, the topping for the latter two, is the most popular by far, constituting 40 percent of chain-wide sales. Also on the menu are the seemingly requisite burgers and fries, Polish sausage, Italian sausage, Chili Cheese Burger and Grilled Chili Cheese.

 

One a year, marketing goes to the dogs—and the gluttons—at Nathan's Famous on Coney Island, where it holds its annual hot dog eating contest. The contest is the company's most recognizable branding effort. Contestants begin stuffing their gobs at regional competitions around the country in April, and winners wind up at the grand finale on July 4.

 

Staging the contest during the summer months is optimal. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, hot dog producers estimate an average of 38 percent — or $614 million — of the total number of hot dogs are sold during this time. Ten percent of annual retail hot dog sales occur during July, which is designated as National Hot Dog Month.

 

 

Hot dog chains consider other QSR concepts direct competition, which explains reactions to the healthful sea change of consumer preferences.

 

"The demand for hot dogs has grown, but more in the premium quality," Watts said. "Unfortunately, there have been some bad words said about the hot dog in general as far as quality is concerned. You've heard it said that you scrape something off the floor, grind it up and make a hot dog out of it."

 

The term premium, particularly when applied to hot dogs, has to do with bite quality as well as the quality of meat used in processing. Most telling of a premium hot dog is the high taste profile, evidenced in the robust beefy flavor of Nathan's Famous dogs. Nathan's Famous, which has always served a 100-percent, all-beef product, has found its retail sales in supermarkets have increased in premium categories while the lower-end has fallen off.

 

The concept that further "upscales the hot dog" is Franktitude, an idea that plans to soon grow to five more locations in South Florida. Where other concepts broaden their menus beyond hot dogs, Franktitude lengthens its hot dog lineup by catering to average dog lovers and those eager to get off the leash and break for something new.

 

"Because we are offering 25 different toppings, our concept tries to change the traditional hot dog to something more gourmet, something more sophisticated," Wurmann said.

 

Thirteen topping options are available for made-to-order hot dogs, and customers can also build their own. Three kinds of buns are offered: regular (white), poppyseed and whole grain. There are also four types of hot dogs on the menu: beef, chicken and salmon. Average ticket price is $3.49, which includes a hot dog with up to four toppings. A combo, with a four-topping dog plus a side and drink, costs $6.49. Sides include french fries, sweet potato fries, corn on the cob, and cole slaw.

 

"We are trying to change people's minds, people's perception, about hot dogs. One of the ways we're doing this is by offering healthy items," Wurmann said. "There are two items with less than two grams of fat. We can teach people that the hot dog can be a healthy food as well. So, you can go on Monday and enjoy a chili dog, and then on Tuesday have a hot dog with artichokes and carrots on a whole-grain bun, which has less than two grams of fat."

 

A successful promotion for Wienerschnitzel was introduced last spring with the roll-out of Big Dogs, 1/3-lb hot sausages split and grilled with three different toppings. The "bigger is better" push reflects a segmentation study conducted internally that determined who was coming to Wienerschnitzel. A large portion was labeled as "hot dog fanatics," customers with "a passion for hot dogs," Amberger said. "These people just want more of a good thing. They want bigger hot dogs with more toppings."

 

And they likely want them more often, even for snacking occasions.

 

"On the restaurant end, what we've found is that we bring the hot dog to people because of the demand for a snack," Watts said. "Demand for snacks has risen greatly, and the hot dog can be a lunch item, it can be a dinner item, but the biggest growth, I believe, is in the snacking occasion."