Wendy's joins the breakfast wars! Here comes the 'Breakfast Baconator'
The fast-food chain plans to launch breakfast nationwide in 2020.
Wendy's has decided it can sit on the sidelines no more.
Thirty-three years after its last attempt, the Ohio-based burger chain told investors and consumers that is entering the breakfast wars again. Only about 300 of its 5,810 stores in the United States now offers breakfast. Next year all stores will be offering breakfast sandwiches, coffee and more.
The menu that will be introduced will include such signature items as the Breakfast Baconator, Frosty-ccino, and Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.
To support its breakfast expansion, Wendy’s and its franchisees plan to hire an additional 20,000 employees
Wendy's announced its 2020 plans for a national breakfast expansion. (Wendy's)
In 1985, the fast-food company launched a much-heralded breakfast campaign in 3,000 plus stores. Its motto was “Only Wendy’s has breakfast like we do. It lasted only nine months. This time the company says it will be different.
“Launching breakfast into our U.S. restaurants nationwide provides incredible growth opportunities,” Wendy’s President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Penegor said in a statement.
He added: "We are well-positioned to pursue it. We believe we have the right team and structure in place, and we put Wendy's fan favorites on our breakfast menu to set us apart from the competition."
Competition in the breakfast category has been heating up in the fast-food industry. Taco Bell recently introduced three new breakfast combos to their menu while the likes of Burger King and White Castle have gotten creative in their marketing strategy with a $5 coffee subscription and a trip to Belgium.
McDonald’s, on the other hand, has been scaling back its all-day breakfast offerings at select franchises.
American market research firm The NPD Group, Inc., said morning meal traffic has increased in the last several years with customers seeking breakfast options that are low cost and portable.
“In-home breakfast declined eight meals per capita between 2015 and 2018 and foodservice gained two breakfast meals per capita during the period,” the report noted.
Wendy’s has experimented with breakfast options in the past, but it had not resonated with customers enough to stay on the menu permanently. Attempts have gone as far back as the 1980s, 2006 to 2009 and even 2010, according to a report from restaurant-focused editorial QSR Magazine. The defunct menu included egg sandwiches, paninis and biscuits.
FOX Business reached out to Wendy’s for comment at the time of this report, however, the fast-food chain said it will reveal more information during its Investor Day on Oct. 11, 2019.