News

Taco Bell jumps into breakfast daypart

January 19, 2012

Beginning next week, Taco Bell will throw its hat into the fastest growing daypart in the QSR space. Calling it "First Meal," the Irvine, Calif.-based chain's breakfast menu will include 11 items with traditional morning ingredients, according to the OC Register.

Taco Bell also will sell Seattle's Best coffee.

The brand has been testing breakfast items for about five years. The First Meal menu will debut Jan. 26 in 750 restaurants located in California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Ohio and Oklahama.

The breakfast menu is expected to be available in 5,800 Taco Bell locations by 2014.

Some of the items available for First Meal include an egg and bacon burrito, a sausage and egg "crunch" wrap, hash browns, iced coffee (vanilla or mocha) and Cinnabon Delights. Items range in price from 99 cents to $2.79.

Coffee, orange juice and iced coffee cost 99 cents to $1.99.

Brian Niccol, the brand's chief marketing and innovation officer, told the OC Register that the line is "everything people love in breakfast, but done in a Taco Bell way."

Breakfast generates about $42 billion in annual sales in the restaurant industry, according to market research firm Technomic.

Read more about food and beverage launches.