Two of Burger King’s most attention-getting menu items in recent years were last year’s reintroduction of Chicken Fries and this year’s debut of Mac ’n Cheetos.
It’s probably not surprising to see the chain combine the two.
Miami-based Burger King will start selling Chicken Fries coated in Cheetos on Sept. 14, for a limited time, the company said Monday. According to Burger King, the fries are “chicken on the inside, ‘dangerously cheesy’ on the outside,” a reference to the Cheetos slogan.
In recent years, restaurant chains have been more aggressive in developing menu items in conjunction with food companies, notably PepsiCo’s Frito Lay division, which makes snacks like Cheetos and Doritos. Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Taco has been among the most popular such item.
Burger King itself has been aggressively developing novelty items designed for the social media generation.
This summer, it began offering a “Whopperito,” a Whopper in wrap form with Mexican seasonings.
Earlier this year, the chain introduced Grilled Dogs.
And in 2013, Burger King received a lot of attention for its reduced-calorie Satisfries, which initially generated sales, but fizzled out and were removed from the menu.
Chicken Fries were on the menu since 2005, but were removed as part of a menu purge in 2012. Burger King brought Chicken Fries back for a limited time in 2014, and put the item on the permanent menu the following year. In the third quarter of 2014, Chicken Fries helped drive 3.6-percent same-store sales growth.
The point of such menu items is to generate traffic from curiosity seekers. But Burger King’s sales have slumped recently amid an overall industry decline. Burger King’s same-store sales fell 0.8 percent in the second quarter ended June 30, a period in which the chain had the benefit of the Grilled Dogs, and the early sales from Mac ’n Cheetos.
Contact Jonathan Maze at [email protected]
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