Move over, hamburgers and fries. Here come the sweet-chili chicken wraps and bacon-filled tater tots.
Looking to lure Americans with the coolest new menu item, Burger King Worldwide Inc., McDonald’s Corp. and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. and others are turning up the heat in their test kitchens.
At the same time, classically trained chefs, looking for more regular work hours and higher pay, are no longer snubbing large chains. The result has been an arms race among eateries to create the most exciting new foods to attract consumers and boost sales.
“Over the last 12 to 18 months, you’ve seen a lot of innovation,” Eric Hirschhorn, Burger King’s vice president of global innovation, said in an interview.
The Miami chain last year introduced 57 new items, the biggest menu overhaul in the company’s history and more than twice as many as in 2011, he said. In March, the Whopper seller rolled out bacon-filled tater tots for $1.99.
The new foods and drinks, some permanent and some for a limited time, are partly the result of the nascent economic recovery. During the downturn, some chains pulled back on creating items and promoted the value of their $1 menus. McDonald’s fiddled with the flavors of McCafe drinks at the expense of new food, while Burger King targeted young males.
Now, both chains, and their rivals, are dishing up more creations.
Sales at the top 500 U.S. limited-service restaurant chains rose 5.6 percent to $184.9 billion last year, outpacing the 2.9 percent growth of sit-down eateries, according to Chicago-based researcher Technomic Inc.
“New product news in this space is what drives guest traffic,” said Peter Saleh, a New York-based analyst at Telsey Advisory Group. “You can’t just rely on the old faithful Big Mac and Whopper.”
McDonald’s this year began selling Fish McBites and sweet-chili chicken wraps and will roll out a 250-calorie egg-white breakfast sandwich at its more than 14,100 U.S. locations.
There have been 32 new and limited-time menu items so far this year at McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s Co., compared with 10 last year during the same time, according to Datassential, a food-industry researcher in Los Angeles.
Restaurants also are putting lower-calorie options on their menus to prepare for federal legislation that would require chains to list nutritional information on their menus, Saleh said.