Wendy’s new fries will be available everywhere in mid-September. The transformation of the fry comes to help cope with the increase in customers going through the pandemic. (Wendy)
ATLANTA: The fast food chain is turning its best-selling menu item into a makeover for the COVID-19 era: a fry that retains more heat and retains its crunchiness longer compared to its predecessor . The updated fry, which will be available nationwide in mid-September, were created as more people change their ordering preferences to drive-thrus and delivery due to the pandemic.
While the look of the new fries will be familiar to Wendy fans, the taste won’t.
“They’ll notice a difference as soon as they taste it,” Wendy president Kurt Kane told CNN Business in an exclusive interview. “The test will be on tasting.”
“What we’ve done is balance the cut of the fries and keep some of the potato skin on the fries so we can drive the flavor,” he said. “We’ve used a cake system that allows us to keep it crispy, both when they’re fresh and hot from the fryer and several minutes later.”
The pasta system is when chips are dipped in oil. Kane said the chips are improved because restaurants use new fried baskets that are shorter, which helps soak them completely in oil.
“What these new fries baskets do is allow us to make sure we fry the chips properly every time,” he added.
Wendy’s spent the last four years researching how to improve her chips. About 20 different designs were considered before landing on one that was “quite consistent in shape and size wherever we’ve been historically,” Kane said.
The last time Wendy’s changed the fries was in November 2010, when she added sea salt and used a natural “skinless” cut. It was the first time he modified fries since opening in 1969.
Ultimately, the idea of the improved fry was to “put an end to the disappointing and inconsistent experiences that still serve other places,” he said.
The first reactions are positive: Wendy’s cited a national taste test conducted by the company that showed participants preferred the chain’s new chips over McDonald’s by a two-to-one margin. Kane said he’s on the “right track to overcoming our old fry.”
As traffic and delivery sales have increased over the past year, cold and wet chips have become a point of pain for customers.
“Many of the design features are built around making sure we can serve a hot, crispy fry every time, no matter how you choose to access Wendy’s,” he said. The chips will still be salted and served in new containers that “reinforce what makes the chips special.”
Kane declined to comment on how much Wendy’s deployment costs, but said the company is putting “a significant amount of weight” behind its marketing. Wendy’s recently announced that it will spend an additional $ 10 million in advertising for its growing breakfast menu.