French fries back as USP for QSR’s

For many years you didn’t hear much on french fries from fast food restaurants...

And that has hurt the product. If there is no pride invested in the product and if there is no effort to distinguish it from the neighbour’s french fries, quality might slide, the product easily becomes a bulk item and innovation in the category suffers as consequence.

For the reasons of the QSR’s “french fry promo blackout” we can only guess: maybe QSR’s did not want to be associated with the negative publicity related to french fries, maybe they took their french fries for granted or didn’t think their french fries would be worth bragging about, or maybe they just got complacent...

Anyhow, they did not see french fries as a unique selling point (USP).

It’s not that they didn’t change their fries: all QSR chains have removed trans fat from their fries, making their fries healthier. This was mentioned in the press, but it was not heavily “promoted”

But all that has changed a little over a year ago when Wendy’s announced it’s “first complete redesign” of its french fries, followed by an extended promotion of their new “Natural-Cut Sea Salt French Fries”.

Although I must admit that at the time I was one of the skeptics, this relaunchhas been highly successful for Wendy’s

Since then, French fries are back in the spotlight as a tool of the major QSR’s to lure customers to their restaurant instead of the one next door.

Examples of recent French Fry Promotions

For Burger King their french fries could even become a critical factor to maintain their position as second largest US burger chain, since Wendy’s, now in third place, is growing its market share and may top Burger King shortly.

Consumers in North America can benefit next week (Friday December 16 , 2011) from this fight as Burger King offers their new french fries for free.

The number of french fries sold at QSR’s in the US is in a slow decline for several years now: - 1% in 2010; - 2% in 2009; - 2% in 2008 and - 2% in 2007 (Source: NPD Group).

Whether this renewed attention of QSR’s for french fries can turn the tide remains to be seen.

But there’s more good news for french fries: different style cuts and serving french fries with a range of different sauces (the french fries as an appetizer?) have been tipped as top food trends for 2012.