The fast food chain is giving its top-selling menu item a makeover for the Covid time: a fry that holds more heat and keeps its crispiness longer contrasted with its archetype. The upgraded fry, which will be accessible nationwide by mid-September, was made as more individuals shift their ordering preferences to drive-through thrus and delivery due to the pandemic.
Albeit the vibe of the new fries will be familiar to Wendy’s fans, the flavor will not.
“They’re going to notice a difference as soon as they taste it,” Wendy’s President Kurt Kane told CNN Business in an exclusive interview. “The proof will be in the tasting.”
“What we’ve done is balance the cut of the fry and kept a little bit of the skin of the potato on the fry to be able to drive flavor,” he said. “We used a batter system that allows us to be able to maintain crispiness, both when they’re fresh and hot out of the fryer as well as several minutes later.”
The batter system is the point at which the fries are dunked in oil. Kane said the fries are improved in light of the fact that restaurants are using new fry baskets that are more limited, assisting the fries with being submerged in oil.
“What those new fry baskets do is enable us to make sure that we fry the fries correctly each and every time,” he added.
Wendy’s gone through the previous four years investigating how to update their fries. Around 20 different designs were considered prior to arriving on one that is “fairly consistent in shape and size where we’ve been historically,” Kane said.
The last time Wendy’s changed their fries was in November 2010, when it added ocean salt and used a natural “skin-on” cut. That was the first time when it had changed the fries since opening in 1969.
At last, the idea of the further developed fry was to “put an end to disappointing and inconsistent fry experiences that other places still serve,” he said.
Early responses are positive: Wendy’s refered to a national taste directed by the organization that showed members favored the chain’s new fries over McDonald’s in a two-to-one margin. Kane said it’s on the “right track to outperform our old fry.”
As drive-thru and delivery sales expanded over the previous year, cold, soggy fries have become a pain point for clients.
“A lot of the design characteristics are built around making sure that we can serve a hot and crispy fry every time, no matter how you choose to access Wendy’s,” he said. The fries will still be salted and will be served in new packaging that “reinforces what makes the fries special.”
Kane declined to comment regarding how much the carry out is costing Wendy’s, yet he said the organization is putting “significant amount of weight” behind marketing it. Wendy’s recently reported it’s spending an extra $10 million to advertise its expanding breakfast menu.