Quaker Oats hit the quick-serve market Monday with Burger King’s addition of Quaker Oatmeal to its breakfast menu. The whole grain oatmeal is available nationally in all Burger King stores in two flavors.
The timing of the announcement is prudent. Competition has soared in 2011, as McDonald’s launched its breakfast oatmeal at the beginning of the year, and Chick-fil-A tossed its hat in the ring in July.
“I think what you’re seeing is a trend,” says Margery Schelling, global innovation officer for PepsiCo Foodservice, which owns Quaker Oats. “[All quick serves] are trying to expand their menu options, and it was natural for Burger King, when they looked at their total breakfast portfolio, to want to make sure they had a variety of choices for consumers.”
Quaker Oats’ foray into fast food developed from a mutual need on both sides of the table, Schelling says.
3G Capital’s purchase of Burger King Corp. in October 2010 laid the tracks for the breakfast partnership.
“When 3G bought the business … we looked at our portfolio of products and got together,” Schelling says. “Burger King was looking at trying to expand its consumer base that was coming into the restaurant. Since they were revamping the breakfast menu, they wanted to do breakfast first, and that’s how we leveraged the Quaker partnership as the first thing out of the gate.”
Burger King will offer the regular, base flavor of oatmeal, as well as a fruit topped maple flavor. The fruit topped version features dried fruit toppings, including cranberries, raisins, cherries, and blueberries.
“Quaker base oatmeal and maple flavor are the two top-selling Quaker flavors in the marketplace today, and we used that knowledge to then take it and enhance it with toppings and sizings and a lot of other technical things to make it right for Burger King,” Schelling says.
“Our restaurant guests want a variety of items to choose from for every meal of the day and Quaker Oatmeal is a welcome, tasty addition to our breakfast menu at BK,” says Leo Leon, vice president of global innovation, Burger King Corp.
The oatmeal will be served during regular breakfast hours, from 6 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., at a suggested retail price of $1.99. Each serving will be made-to-order.
By Sonya Chudgar
