NRN senior food editor Bret Thorn breaks down what you should be watching in the industry this week. Connect with him on the latest marketing trends and news at [email protected] and @foodwriterdiary. RELATED: • Consumers like options with frozen desserts • Chains aim for summer sales with frozen drinks and treats • Beverage Trends at NRN.com
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Five Guys Burgers and Fries is testing customizable milkshakes at select locations.
Starting with a vanilla shake, guests can add up to 10 items, including salted caramel, malted milk, strawberries, bananas, chocolate, coffee, peanut butter, cherries and Oreo cookies. But one mix-in really got the media’s attention: Bacon.
Of course, bacon. Why wouldn’t Five Guys let people put crumbled apple wood smoked bacon in their milkshakes? They sell hamburgers, so they have bacon.
Bacon milkshakes are not new. Denny’s has offered them. So has Jack in the Box. Since customizability is the name of the game at fast-casual restaurants, I assume that if customers asked for fries, jalapeños or sautéed onions in their milkshakes, they could get those, too, but putting bacon on the list of approved of mix-ins made headlines.
It’s understandable that a blog called Bacon You Crazy (“Celebrating the glory of bacon”) would get excited about the prospect.
“We expect there to be roughly a 10,000% increase in demand for bacon and of course dairy products,” it predicted.
Fox News jumped all over the bacon, too, with the headline, “Five Guys burger chain rolls out customizable milkshakes with bacon.”
Consumerist hyped up the bacon even more with the headline, “The Only Thing You Need To Know About Five Guys Testing Customizable Shakes Is That Bacon Is Involved.”
One of its readers tried a milkshake with bacon, plus chocolate, malted milk and peanut butter. The verdict: “It was delicious!”
Consumerist tipped its hat to Foodbeast for drawing its attention to the news. Foodbeast expressed concern that the customizable shakes would result in longer lines at the better-burger chain, although the lag time at Five Guys, in my experience, comes in waiting for your food to be prepared.
“Though, hey, bacon and Oreo milkshake!” writer Peter Pham said.
First We Feast also visualized that combination and asked: “Is it us, or did Five Guys just create every super-stoner’s dream milkshake experience?”
Maybe the next test markets should be Colorado and Washington.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
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