Beyond burgers
Beyond the buzzworthy porchetta that is going off the menu in late summer for seasonality reasons, Arby’s continues to hone its self-described Meatcraft, and for a variety of reasons in today’s competitive climate for the consumer food dollar. Craw points to the chain’s founders, Forrest and Leroy Raffel of Boardman, Ohio. “The Raffel brothers set out to offer a premium roast beef sandwich in a world of burgers. By continuing to explore new proteins and preparations to introduce to our guests, we’re honoring the bold approach that has defined Arby’s since day one,” he notes.
To that point, while slow-roasted, stacked sliced beef is still a signature and staple for Arby’s, other permanent and limited-time sandwiches are made with smoked brisket, Angus steak, corned beef, roast turkey, pepper bacon, triple-thick brown sugar bacon and, venison, in a limited-time offering during hunting season in certain parts of the country.
“One of Arby’s goals is to create first-time experiences for guests via unique and unexpected proteins many consumers have never heard of, let alone tried before,” says an Arby’s spokesman.
The culinary innovation extends to creating a novelty factor in meats and sandwiches. The chain has developed a line of “Big City” products featuring regional favorites like Fire-Roasted Philly, New York Reuben and Chicago-Style Beef Dip sandwiches. Another example of a novel, attention-garnering item is the Meat Mountain, a generous-portion sandwich that sold more than 150,000 in the month of March alone.
Some limited-time sandwiches come back on the menu, such as the Smokehouse Pork Belly sandwich. “When we launched it last year, we weren’t sure how well it would do because no one in our industry had done a slow-smoked pork belly sandwich before,” says Rob Lynch, chief marketing officer and brand president. “The response was remarkable, significantly exceeding our wildest expectations, so we worked hard to bring it back as soon as possible.”
Beyond meat choice, there are other ingredients that complement the Meatcraft approach at Arby’s. “America’s demand for quality protein will always be a driver of our menu, but there are certainly other trends at play. Research tells us that more and more guests are looking for food exploration and the experience of trying new things,” Craw remarks. “The ability to deliver those experiences across the country, and through a drive-thru, is an amazing opportunity and one our culinary team is proud to take on.”
