Wendy's launches new Natural-Cut Sea Salt French Fries

Wendy's announces the launch of its new natural-cut fries with sea salt in the United States (nationwide), marking the first complete redesign of the company's classic fries in its 41-year history.

Designed to give French fry lovers a hotter, crispier taste experience with an enhanced potato flavor and texture, Wendy's new fries are the only ones to be offered by a national fast food chain with the natural skin-on cut and seasoned with sea salt.

The new fries incorporate a range of new ingredients and preparation methods to meet consumers' demand for a better-tasting, higher-quality French fry. They are made 100% from Russet potatoes and sliced "natural-style"with the skin on for additional texture and taste, then cooked in proprietary oil that contains no allergens and has 0 grams trans fat per serving. They are finished with a dusting of natural sea salt to further enhance the flavor.

"A year ago, Wendy's launched its Real brand position that is the foundation of our company --- real products with authentic, high integrity ingredients, fresh preparation and exciting tastes and flavors for every main food item we serve. We challenged ourselves to translate this brand promise into even better French fries. The result is hotter, crispier, and tastier natural-cut fries, seasoned with sea salt. We think our sea salt fries will set a new standard in the QSR industry,"said Ken Calwell, Wendy's chief marketing officer.

Wendy's based its redesign on extensive consumer research on what they wanted in a great-tasting French fry, which includes an even golden color, a real potato taste, and one that stays hot longer. After several months in the company's R&D labs, the new natural-cut fries were test marketed in three cities across the U.S. Consumers gave very high ratings for quality, taste and overall value. Fry sales were above expectations and continued to be strong even after the test marketing advertising ended.

Wendy's new natural-cut fries will be priced the same as their current French fries and be offered in the same four serving sizes. Introduction of the new fries begins nationwide on November 11, with all restaurants expected to be serving the new fries by the end of the following week.

The launch will be supported by nationwide marketing activities, which include a Facebook "Fry for All"campaign at www.facebook.com/wendys and a holiday gift card promotion awarding a coupon for free fries of any size with the purchase of each $15 Wendy's gift card.