Porchetta is an Italian-style pork belly-wrapped pork loin that's herbed, rolled and smoked for eight hours.
Menu innovation
Working with suppliers on ingredients – including meats – is pivotal for quality, Craw says. “We have the most dedicated suppliers in the industry who have been instrumental in our menu evolution over the past few years,” he says, noting that the size of the Arby’s brand plays a major role in which suppliers they use. “We’re nimble enough to work with smaller, family owned suppliers devoted to quality, but large enough to bring that quality to guests nationwide.”
In its work with suppliers and internally, within its R&D and culinary groups, Arby’s is regularly working on new innovations. “We test more than 1,000 menu items each year, so we’re steadily busy meeting with suppliers, vetting new proteins, building new recipes and testing them in various ways,” reports Craw.
On another level, all of this innovation is part of Arby’s effort to carve out (pun intended) a market position that is somewhat between QSR and fast-casual. That’s evident in the company’s Fast Crafted description of its menu offerings, which aims to relay Arby’s goal to offer quickly prepared food that is high quality, affordable and made for today’s discerning customer.
Finally, how is this meat-focused, experience-driven fusion of quick-service and fast casual impacting the bottom line? According to company information, same store sales have increased for 26 consecutive quarters, with boosted sales after the launch of the “We Have the Meats” campaign. In the first quarter of 2017, same store sales grew 1.6 percent. The company also announced plans to build 86 new restaurants in the US.
