Wendy’s debuted its full-blown breakfast program four years ago knowing just how many options there were in the market, said John Li, vice president of culinary innovation.
But in his mind, those alternatives were “just OK.”
“Akin to how we approach everything from a Wendy’s perspective, we made a decision. We’re going to do breakfast. We’re doing it in a way that Dave Thomas would be proud of,” Li said. “We’re going to do what we call ‘Fast Food Done Right.’ We’re going to use quality ingredients and we’re going to deliver food that’s better than all the others that are out there.”
Since the launch, Li believe Wendy’s has created new customers that know and understand that breakfast means real ingredients, real cracked eggs on every sandwich, premium applewood smoked bacon, and custom-made sausage. Two years ago, the company found an opportunity to bring product news to the platform with the debut of French Toast Sticks.
And now, Wendy’s is kicking off 2024 with another delectable snack—Cinnabon Pull-Apart. Eryn Bennett, manager of culinary innovation, said the item brings nostalgia and comfort to the breakfast consumer. Wendy’s took the familiar cinnamon roll and gave it a unique, windy twist. It’s also topped with Cinnabon’s signature cream cheese frosting. The Cinnabon Pull-Apart pairs well with any of the breakfast menu items, like the potatoes, Baconator, or Vanilla Frosty Cream Cold Brew, according to Bennett.
“So what we’ve done there is actually taken the best part of the cinnamon roll, which if you didn’t know, that’s the center, and you’re basically getting that center bite in every single bite,” she said. “It’s very easy to pull apart as the name implies and you get these delicious bite-sized pieces that taste like a center of the cinnamon roll in every single bite from there.”
The menu item will hit U.S. menus on February 26 and make its way to Canada on March 18.
Li said Wendy’s chose to partner with Cinnabon because the company shared its philosophy of maintaining a brand “that stands for some pretty important things that we promised to our guests, and that revolves around quality and revolves around making sure we deliver an experience that they’re going to walk away and say, ‘Oh my God, that was so well worth it.'”
Plus, the Cinnabon Pull-Apart is directly in response to what customers are asking for—nostalgic imagery, warmth, and sweet indulgence. That’s especially true for the younger generations.
“There are two large groups that are coming up. They’re eating patterns, call them alpha and Z, it’s what we call them, but their eating patterns are different,” Li explained. “And we got to make sure that we’re tracking against those things. … I think the Pull-Apart definitely appeals and it resonates more with the younger generations. And certainly the ice coffee or the cold brew, they do the same thing. So we definitely have to keep a pulse because they’re probably going to have the largest impact in terms of how we think about our menu 10 years down the road.”
Former CEO Todd Penegor told investors last November that the brand is still in the process of ingraining the breakfast daypart into consumers. The company has built awareness and is driving trial, but there’s still great opportunity to bring the rest-of-day guest into the morning hours. He characterized the brand as being in the early innings of breakfast.
Within the kitchen, Bennett said the team is always looking for what’s next on the breakfast menu.
“We definitely take a lot of time listening to our consumers and our crew,” she said. “Honestly, sometimes things we could change could be making things a little bit easier to work a breakfast shift in our restaurants. But yes, we are always looking at if we need to make any changes, whether it’s additions or swapping things out to our breakfast menu. I can’t really say too much about what any of those specifics are, but we are always listening and looking for for what’s coming.”
