Best Limited-Time Offer

Taco Bell

Crunchwrap™ Supreme

The Crunchwrap Supreme stands out and sets records with contrasting textures and flavors in a portable package

By Wade Daniels

Item: Crunchwrap™ Supreme

Rollout: June 2005

Company: Taco Bell

Headquarters: Irvine , Calif.

Units: about 5,800

Region: national

Description: Height: approximately 1.25 inches

Weight: approximately 6.25 ounces

Width: approximately 6 inches

Developers: Lois Carson, senior manager of product and margin development

It took about a decade for Taco Bell’s CrunchwrapTM Supreme to go from the drawing board to the fast-food restaurant chain’s menu, debuting last summer. At one point along the way, in light of the product’s unique folds and hexagonal shape, it was called the Origami Tostada.

But it wasn’t the lack of a suitable name that slowed the product’s introduction. In fact, the Mexican-style fast-food company brass were long eager to introduce it, predicting it would be a success. Rather, equipment issues at the restaurants kept the Crunchwrap on the back burner. Namely, Taco Bell kitchens had no way to seal the Crunchwrap and give it the desired portability.

“Starting about 10 years ago we had brainstorming sessions where the idea for it first came out,” says Lois Carson, Taco Bell’s senior manager of product and margin improvement and the developer of the Crunchwrap. “We didn’t have the infrastructure for it though.”

Over the years, Taco Bell, based in Irvine, Calif., added other products to its menu, such as quesadillas and its Grilled Stuft Burritos. Product developers found that the grills brought in to make those items could be used for the Crunchwrap. The item finally launched last June.

The Crunchwrap has many ingredients common in other Taco Bell offerings. It has seasoned ground beef, nacho cheese sauce, a crunchy tostada shell, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream, all wrapped in a hand-folded flour tortilla, which is grilled to seal it for portability.

Predictions of its success proved correct. The Crunchwrap Supreme became Taco Bell’s most successful limited-time offering, with about 51 million units sold in the six weeks following its launch. The company would not provide numbers for other limited time offers for comparison.

“In the limited-time offer window we had last year we were able to set a record for per-store average,” says Will Bortz, Taco Bell’s manager of public relations. “It’s a point of pride for us that the Crunchwrap was not just a business lift for us but a business record.”

Taco Bell breaks its sales year into 13 four-week periods. Sales were up 10 percent for the four-week period in which the Crunchwrap was introduced, compared with the previous year, according to Yum! Brands Inc., Taco Bell’s Louisville, Ky.-based parent company.

Taco Bell’s same-stores sales rose year-over-year by 7 percent in 2005, compared with 5 percent the previous year.

The Crunchwrap presents no extraordinary food or labor costs. Preparation is done in-store, no special ingredients were needed, and the grills it required were already in the stores. Many Taco Bell menu items are hand-folded, as is the Crunchwrap Supreme, meaning no special equipment was needed to give it its distinctive form.

Bortz says that after the strong customer response to the Crunchwrap, Taco Bell officials began investigating whether the product’s menu stint might be extended. Following some market research, the company at the beginning of February declared it a permanent menu item.

“From a product standpoint, [the Crunchwrap Supreme] was one of our favorite product introductions of the year, and not just at Taco Bell but really across the industry,” says Peter Oakes, a restaurant analyst for Piper Jaffray. “In a sea of sameness it’s a product that really stood out. It had a very interesting contrast of texture, flavors and temperature.”

The Crunchwrap’s introduction last summer came at a time of record high gas prices, Oakes notes, saying that the product helped boost Taco Bell over a tough economic bump.

He notes that parent company Yum often has limited-time products at its other chains, which include KFC and Pizza Hut. The offers typically last about six weeks.

Analysts with less high-profile credentials than Oakes’ also have heaped praise on the Crunchwrap.

“They hit one out of the park with the Crunchwrap Supreme,” writes Phil Jonas, a “junior burrito analyst” for the popular website www.burritoblog.com, wherein all manner of tortilla-wrapped Mexican foods are critiqued. “I had five of these puppies the first week they were available. The new Crunchwrap Supreme has taken the hard/soft texture idea and advanced it.”

In addition to pleasing the palate, Bortz emphasizes that the Crunchwrap’s portability has been a selling point, as 70 percent of the chain’s business comes from its drive-thru windows. Oakes says this portability is something that Taco Bell could use more of.

“It’s something that doesn’t spill all over you like a taco or some of the other menu items,” he says. “I’m looking forward to seeing how they will top the Crunchwrap.”