DUBLIN, OHIO — Wendy’s is back in the breakfast business.
The Dublin-based quick-service restaurant chain reentered the daypart with the March 2 rollout of several menu items, including the Breakfast Baconator, a honey butter chicken biscuit and a Frosty-ccino.
The Breakfast Baconator includes a combination of egg, six strips of bacon, a breakfast sausage patty and two slices of American cheese, all topped with a Swiss cheese sauce between two buns.
The honey butter chicken biscuit features a buttermilk biscuit topped with chicken breast with whipped honey butter.
The Frosty-ccino includes cold-brew coffee with chocolate or vanilla Frosty creamer served over ice.
Wendy’s also will offer a sausage, egg and Swiss croissant; bacon, egg and Swiss croissant; sausage, egg and cheese biscuit; bacon, egg and cheese biscuit; sausage, egg and cheese sandwich; bacon, egg and cheese sandwich; sausage gravy and biscuits; sausage, egg and cheese burrito; oatmeal bars; apple bites; and seasoned potatoes.
“To date, some others in the category have let breakfast consumers down by offering breakfast sandwiches with frozen, folded eggs and pre-cooked bacon,” said Carl Loredo, chief marketing officer of Wendy’s. “Today, all that changes. We are known for our high-quality food, and breakfast is no different.”
This isn’t the first time Wendy’s has tried its hand at breakfast. It has struggled to successfully add the daypart for decades.
In a Feb. 26 conference call with analysts to discuss fiscal 2019 financial results, Todd A. Penegor, president and CEO of Wendy’s, said the company spent two years preparing for the latest launch of its breakfast menu. The company invested approximately $17 million to support the launch of breakfast this time around and spent another $5 million to roll out scanners to its North America system to help with the integration across its digital platforms, Penegor said.
“There is strong customer demand for breakfast at Wendy’s, and our franchise system is fully aligned to this launch as we have designed a program that we expect to benefit the overall restaurant economic model,” he said. “Our system has been very busy recruiting for the breakfast daypart, and we are excited to report that we are fully staffed and ready for launch. We have also spent the last few weeks training our crews. As expected, training has gone very smoothly as the menu was designed to be simple and easy to execute. Our system is energized and excited to bring the breakfast offering to life for our customers.
“We have created a differentiated menu with mass customer appeal that capitalizes on our quality heritage, featuring the Breakfast Baconator, Frosty-ccino and honey butter chicken biscuit. We are excited to deliver America the breakfast it deserves, and we will be driving awareness in a big way.”
Gunther Plosch, chief financial officer, said during the Feb. 26 conference call that Wendy’s plans to spend approximately $70 million to $80 million on advertising to promote awareness and frequency within the breakfast daypart during 2020.