You probably swing through the drive-thru at your favorite fast food joint without really
thinking about what’s going on behind the scenes.
But fast food chains are always looking for the next big thing to stay relevant, increase
profits, become more socially or environmentally aware, or become more efficient.
There’s a lot of changes on the horizon for some of the world's biggest fast food
chains, some with global impact.
Here's what you can expect to see in the near future in the world of fast food.
Wendy's and allergy risks
Everything in fast food is highly regimented to ensure consistency and guarantee that a
person on vacation is going to know exactly what they can expect when they pull into their
favorite chain.
Sometimes, companies overhaul their procedures and in 2018, Wendy's made what could be an
allergy-inducing change.
According to the non-profit organization Food Allergy Research & Education, or FARE, Wendy's
changed how employees apply ketchup to some of the chain's burgers.
Now, the utensil used to apply ketchup touches the mayo, which is potentially dangerous for
anyone with an allergy to eggs.
FARE now recommends asking for ketchup packets if there's a danger of any kind of allergic
reaction.
Starbucks and the environment
The world consumes a ton of coffee, which means a ton of non-recyclable coffee cups,
and that's led to some big problems.
Starbucks wants to change that.
USA Today says Starbucks is offering $10 million to the person who comes up with a design for
an environmentally-friendly coffee cup that can be composted or recycled.
At the time of the announcement, Starbucks cups were only 10 percent post-consumer recycled
material, a drop in the bucket as far as being environmentally conscious goes.
Starbucks is trying to go green, and in order to encourage their customers to bring their
own reusable cups, the coffee giant is experimenting with implementing a surcharge for using disposable
cups.
This campaign started in London to see if it will ultimately make an impact and, if
it does, you're likely to see it happening at your local Starbucks.
Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings
In 2017, Roark Capital Group bought Buffalo Wild Wings.
The group, who already owns Arby's, paid $2.9 billion for the chicken wing chain and made
it clear from they would be running the two chains independently under the umbrella of
Inspire Brands Inc.
Just what's going to change remains to be seen, but the powers-that-be have already
said the two chains are going to start operating off the same resource base and with the same
business practices.
A lot of that probably won't be seen by consumers, but it's entirely possible there will be major
changes that will impact the final product.
Business Insider says one of the things we're likely to see is product partnership, and
it's already started with the creation of a new sauce that's half Arby's Horsey and
half Buffalo Wild Wing's Asian Zing, carried at both locations.
Buffalo Wild Wings might get curly fries, and Arby's might start serving beer.
We can only hope!
Papa John's and beer delivery
What's better than pizza and beer?
Papa John's knows how you feel about that question, and the franchise has started testing
beer delivery on a very small scale.
According to VinePair, the company kicked off the first stages of the experiment in
April 2018 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, offering six-packs of Coors Light, Coors Banquet, Yuengling,
Miller Lite, and Dos Equis.
If you’re wondering why Jeffersonville got so lucky, it's because that's where the chain
first started way back in 1984.
Papa John’s actually delivered beer back then, and it looks like the chain is finally
revisiting it, though there's no word on what's going to happen if it's a success.
Taco Bell and training procedures
Taco Bell's menu is huge and changes a lot.
That means keeping things consistent is a challenge, and in April 2018 the chain announced
it was making some major changes behind the scenes to help improve consistency, communication,
and training.
According to workforce training publication Chief Learning Officer, the company is going
to be investing in the technology needed to create a massive online database of everything
Taco Bell.
Everything from procedures for new menu items to customer insights, on-the-job training
activities, and operating procedures.
Everything any Taco Bell employee needs will be accessible from a single database.
Not only is it going to make it easier to standardize the restaurants, but it will also
save the chain about $2 million a year on the new-hire manuals alone.
While there were a ton of technical difficulties that needed to be sorted out, it may just
revolutionize the back-end of other fast food chains as the idea spreads.
Chipotle and drive-thru windows
There aren't too many fast food restaurants that don't have drive-thru windows, and Chipotle
is one of the last holdouts.
It doesn't seem like its made-to-order menu is conducive to a drive-thru, but that might
be changing.
In 2017, Business Insider reported Chipotle testing drive-thru windows at one of its Ohio
stores, and that’s not all.
Founder and long-time CEO Steve Ells has stepped down from the company, opening the door to
other things Chipotle has always said they'd never do.
Analysts say the drive-thru is likely to stay, the menu will probably get a complete overhaul,
and you'll probably see them start serving breakfast.
That's a huge deal, especially considering the menu has remained almost exactly the same
since Chipotle opened in 1993.
McDonald’s and going green
McDonald's sells an insane amount of food, and that means a lot of wrappers, cartons,
and other waste, so it’s a huge deal that the iconic fast food brand is going ultra-sustainable.
According to Inc., the first part of the plan is to get rid of all foam containers by the
end of 2018.
Then by 2025, the company says it's going to be using only packaging that's 100 percent
recycled, certified sustainable, or renewable.
By the same year, it plans to put out a system that recycles 100 percent of customer-used
packaging.
Straws are also a pretty shocking problem when it comes to the environment.
The Plastic Pollution Coalition has estimated 500,000,000 non-biodegradable straws are used
in the US every day.
McDonald's has announced it's getting rid of plastic straws starting in all UK locations,
changing to paper straws.
McDonald's also aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 36 percent by 2030.
If those goals are met, that would be the equivalent of taking 32 million cars off the
road each year.
Most of the cuts are going to come from energy use, sourcing, beef production, and waste
materials, as well as sustainable agriculture, updating restaurants with energy-efficient
equipment, and LED lighting in all locations.