Taco Bell didn’t hide the fact it planned to define 2024 through menu innovation. The brand began with a “Live Más Live” event during Super Bowl week in Las Vegas, a star-studded gathering unlike any it’s hosted before that introduced bold, future arrivals, from MTN DEW Baja Blast Gelato to Crispy Chicken Nuggets. Overall, Taco Bell told guests it expected to launch a new product every five weeks, or double the cadence from the prior year.
But perhaps none of the anticipated items matched the buzz of the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and Tostada. Both featured a Cheez-It cracker 16 times larger than the traditional retail item customers unbox at home. Taco Bell’s rewards members received early access on May 30 and the lineup went nationwide June 6.
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Taco Bell and Kellanova (the snacking giant behind Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Special K, and a host of other household names that generated 2023 net sales of $13 billion), first linked up in 2022 to test the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and Tostada for a limited run at an Irvine, California, location. The pilot was a success, leading Taco Bell to announce the collaboration’s impending return at the Super Bowl activation.
It hit stores in three parts:
Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme ($5.49): Like its original counterpart, this Crunchwrap Supreme includes seasoned beef, nacho cheese sauce, crisp lettuce, reduced-fat sour
cream and diced tomatoes, but the typical tostada shell is replaced with a Big Cheez-It cracker before being wrapped inside a tortilla that’s grilled to go.
Big Cheez-It Tostada ($3.99): The Big Cheez-It Tostada features the Big Cheez-It cracker topped with layers of Taco Bell’s seasoned beef, diced tomatoes, lettuce, shredded cheese and reduced-fat sour cream.
Big Cheez-It Box ($8.99): This box includes the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme, a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, regular sized Nacho Fries, and a medium fountain drink.
QSR caught up with Jess Waller, GM of Away From Home at Kellanova; KT McCann, VP of R&D at the company; John Major, foodservice national accounts director; and Liz Matthews, Taco Bell’s global chief food innovation officer, to explore the menu launch, what went into the process, and what to expect in the weeks ahead.
Take us behind the collaboration. Where do you begin combining two iconic platforms to create one, cohesive offering?
Waller: Taco Bell and Cheez-It are brands known for pushing innovation boundaries without losing sight of what fans know and love. Overlapping brand fanbases helped bring the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and Big Cheez-It Tostada to Taco Bell menus nationwide. Both brands are known for their innovation and distinctive flavors, and the synergy between them was clear.
The initial innovation phase involved brainstorming sessions with teams from both companies to conceptualize a product that would excite fans of both brands. Ultimately, the goal was to create an innovative product that would deliver the distinct and craveable 100 percent cheese flavor that Cheez-It crackers are known for, while also fitting seamlessly into Taco Bell’s bold menu.
With the help of this groundbreaking alliance with Taco Bell, Kellanova is proving that our snacks have a place outside the bag and can come to life on menus to create one-of-a-kind culinary experiences.
Matthews: The journey began with a big idea—to blend the cheezy magic of a Cheez-It cracker with the bold flavors of Taco Bell. At Taco Bell, we understand our fans just as Kellanova does, and we’ve noticed something special—they all share a hunger for a snack that’s as innovative as it is tasty. So, we rolled up our sleeves and dove in headfirst to create an unforgettable fusion of cheezy, crunchy goodness that would delight snack lovers everywhere.
Naturally, it all began in the Test Kitchen. Maximizing a Cheez-It is one thing; the real challenge lay in selecting the perfect Taco Bell item to enhance. The Taco Bell and Kellanova R&D teams partnered on a few menu ideas. Each exploration of how to use Cheez-It for a unique Taco Bell menu item was a pivotal step in the conceptualization. It led the team to the tostada and eventually the Crunchwrap Supreme with a unique twist—an extra-big Cheez-It to satisfy fans of cheesy, crunchy food in a completely new way.
How long was the R&D process, and what were some memorable findings along the way?
McCann: Each step of the R&D process involved meticulous testing and refinement to ensure the product met our high standards. The iterative learning process that guides us to the final product is the most enjoyable part of a project such as the Big Cheez-It. It takes time because we must experiment and learn with the design, considering the regulatory environment, what drives consumer delight, cost and the manufacturing solution. The entire process was a collaboration with Taco Bell to ensure that the design was a fit for their purpose.
During the R&D process, the teams explored various ways to integrate Cheez-It into an LTO, leading to the innovative idea of an extra-big Cheez-It cracker. Throughout the process we discovered that the baking and packaging of the big Cheez-It cracker would require a different approach than the regular Cheez-It cracker.
Matthews: The R&D journey for the menu items spanned over multiple years. It was a lengthy process. We encountered a few challenges before arriving at the final product, but we’re firm believers that the greatest achievements often follow a series of products that don’t work out.
How did you land on a Cheez-It Cracker 16 times the size of a normal one?
McCann: Kellanova and Taco Bell R&D teams partnered on a few menu ideas before we landed on the big Cheez-It cracker. Each exploration of how to use Cheez-It for a unique Taco Bell menu item was pivotal in the conceptualization. It led the team to the tostada and eventually the Crunchwrap Supreme with a unique twist—an extra-big Cheez-It to satisfy fans of cheesy, crunchy food in a completely new way. We knew a Cheez-it cracker 16 times the size of a normal one would deliver an impactful and memorable dining experience. This giant size was also ideal for incorporating into Taco Bell’s Crunchwrap Supreme and Tostada, providing the perfect balance of texture and flavor.
Matthews: Once we determined that the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and Big Cheez-It Tostada were the best vessels to bring the irresistibility of Cheez-It to life on the Taco Bell menu, our focus shifted to scale. We needed to pinpoint the perfect Cheez-It dimension that would seamlessly integrate into the Crunchwrap Supreme fans know and love, while also ensuring it could stand alone as a base for a tostada.
Talk about the SoCal testing. Were there any learnings that inspired the upcoming rollout?
Major: The one-restaurant SoCal testing phase was crucial because it revealed key lessons for how the Big Cheez-It cracker would work in Taco Bell’s menu. The test highlighted the importance of maintaining the big Cheez-It cracker’s texture and flavor, leading to adjustments that ensured the product’s success on a larger scale. It also revealed that the big Cheez-It cracker was a huge hit with consumers, which inspired confidence for a nationwide rollout. The SoCal test in 2022 was the most successful in Taco Bell’s history.
Matthews: We first collaborated with Kellanova in 2022, testing out the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and the Big Cheez-It Tostada for a limited time at a single Taco Bell location in Irvine, CA. This trial run proved to be incredibly successful as fans made it clear that the Big Cheez-It menu items brought something new to the table, something bigger than ever before. Based on the overwhelmingly positive reaction, Taco Bell and Cheez-It knew it had to go BIGGER and CHEEZIER and take the menu items nationwide—sharing the very best of innovation with fans from coast to coast.
If you had to describe how this tasted, how would you put it?
McCann: Kellanova and Taco Bell culinary teams worked together to ensure the consumer experience with the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and Big Cheez-It Tostada would be cheesy, crunchy and irresistibly delicious. The final menu items combine the unmistakable cheesy, crunchy satisfaction of Cheez-It with the bold, savory flavors of Taco Bell. The Cheez-It cracker’s distinctive cheesy flavor pairs perfectly with Taco Bell’s seasoned beef and traditional toppings, creating a delicious umami blend that is both familiar and exciting.
Matthews: I’d say it’s like a burst of cheesy flavor in every bite, with a satisfyingly crisp texture that echoes the classic Cheez-It cracker, only amplified. It’s accompanied by all the classic Taco Bell flavors—savory seasoned beef, warm nacho cheese sauce, crisp lettuce, cool reduced-fat sour cream, and diced tomatoes. The Cheez-It takes the experience to the next level, offering toasty notes to make each bite even more memorable.
More broadly, why do you think out-of-the-brand box brand partnerships like this have resonated so much with today’s consumer?
Waller: Brand partnerships resonate with today’s consumers because they bring together beloved brands in unexpected and delightful ways while keeping the consumer at the center. Throughout the process, the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and Big Cheez-It Tostada followed Kellanova and Taco Bell’s best practices of creating food rooted in knowledge of and service to the consumer. When powerhouse brands like Cheez-It and Taco Bell are paired together based on real synergies in their consumer audiences, the experience drives buzz and interest—and leads to foot traffic and purchase behavior—because it’s driven by customer connectivity and resonance.
Matthews: Out-of-the-box brand partnerships resonate with today’s consumers because they offer novelty and excitement, breaking through the repetitiveness we often see on menus. Partnerships combine the strengths of two separate brands to create one amazing offering. It also gives consumers the opportunity to discover and embrace a different brand, effectively converting Cheez-It enthusiasts into Taco Bell supporters, and Taco Bell supporters into Cheez-It enthusiasts.
And from the perspective of the restaurant itself, what makes these collabs so powerful?
Waller: The challenge in food innovation is marrying the consumer needs with the capabilities to deliver. This story of the Taco Bell Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme is a good realization of that—requiring resilience and tenacity to solve different problems to maintain the strength of the idea. This Taco Bell and Cheez-It story shows how important it is to identify synergies with a restaurant or foodservice partner, culminating in a unique and engaging experience for both brands.
Kellanova believes the success of the Cheez-It and Taco Bell partnership is driven by our powerhouse brands, creativity and adaptability in our teams and a foundation of consumer insights and culinary excellence. With innovation, we want to be known for creating concepts and foods that are relevant and executable, not just innovation for innovation’s sake. That’s what we’ve done with the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and the Big Cheez-It Tostada.
Matthews: Creative twists like a Big Cheez-It in a Crunchwrap Supreme spark curiosity. It’s the kind of fun idea that makes you smile and think, “Why not?” The best part is, it’s not just a gimmick to grab headlines; it’s delicious.
