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Why QSRs aren't winning with premium salads

I prefer to eat healthy, so it's encouraging for me to see more QSRs adding better-for-you items to their menus, including salads. But I'm not sure that premium salads in their current format will ever be a significant part of the sales mix.

June 29, 2010

I prefer to eat healthy, so it's encouraging for me to see more QSRs adding better-for-you items to their menus, including salads. But I'm not sure that premium salads in their current format will ever be a significant part of the sales mix.

As they are packaged now, QSR salads may prevent a veto vote for a family or lunch group. But they certainly won't attract groups of female friends to McDonald's, Carl's Jr. or Wendy's to nosh and gab over a table of salads, a common occasion in casual dining.

Take my recent experience at Wendy's for example. I was leaving the gym and wondering if I should cave and grab something from one of the five QSRs fronting the parking lot or wait until I got home to eat. The sign for Wendy's new premium salad jumped out at me.

I ordered the Baja Salad, with images of black beans and sliced avocado nestled atop a bed of lettuce. Instead, I was handed a prepackaged salad with a cup of chili. My first thought was that they gave me someone else's order. But the assuring nod from the drive-thru attendant confirmed it was mine. On the way home, I wondered what I was supposed to do with the chili.

As soon as I was able, I checked the Wendy's website and saw that, yes indeed, chili was listed as one of the ingredients. I poured a bit of it on top the salad — which was a nice mix of baby greens topped with pico de gallo and a generous scoop of guacamole — and squirted on some of the Red Jalapeno dressing. While I like Wendy's chili on its own, I didn't on the salad. Instead, I cooked my own chicken breast to top off the salad, and thoroughly enjoyed the result, especially the surprisingly delightful guacamole and spicy dressing. So unless I'm hankering for some of that guacamole, I likely won't repeat my order.

So here's why I think premium salads don't live up to their potential at QSRs:

They aren't drive-thru friendly. I feel certain I'm pretty typical of the average drive-thru customer: I want to eat in the car. That's why I stop at a QSR, because I want my food fast and convenient. And I've learned the hard way what foods aren't conducive to eating on the road: sauce-heavy sandwiches and salads.

The few times I've eaten a QSR salad include two experiences as a passenger in a car. Both times I spent the energy I wanted to employ enjoying my meal trying to balance the container of lettuce on my lap while opening package after package of toppings and cutting the whole chicken breast filet into manageable bites.

So I would never think of trying to put the salad together while driving. If I were hungry, I would end up eating the contents of each packet separately and eating the lettuce with my fingers, not an appealing scenario.

All those little packages. I understand why QSRs package the basic elements of the salad — greens and any vegetable toppings — in one container and any dry ingredients and meat in separate ones. But I don't like it.

I like having a premium salad served to me fully assembled, so that all I need to do is pour on the amount of dressing I want. I don't enjoy tearing open all the little packages to top it myself. I suspect that process also detracts from the experience for other customers.

The price isn't right. Yes, QSR salads are priced lower than casual dining salads, but for that lower price, I know I'm going to have to do a little work (again with the packaging). And when I eat at QSR I expect to save a little. So when I want to eat healthy and compare the price of a chicken sandwich to the salad, the sandwich wins. And it also wins sometimes because I'm aware that premium salads sometimes have premium calorie counts.

Now if QSRs would offer the salads at breakfast, there's a goldmine opportunity. (An option at Carl's Jr. with its 24-hour menu.) I would love having all the toppings in their keep-dry packages if I picked up the salad on my way to work. That way, I wouldn't have to go out for lunch but could still enjoy the experience of a really nice salad. And I'd even pay $5.99 to do so.