Posted on 08/26/2021 7:49:03 PM PDT by be-baw
New version of brand's No. 1 sales product is being rolled out now in the U.S. and Canada and will be in system fully by September.
The Wendy’s Co. has reformulated its French fries, a project last undertaken in 2010, and the new products are rolling out to some markets now and are expected to be completed in September, the company’s culinary team said Thursday.
Culinary leaders from the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain said the process of reformulating the skin-on fries was a months-long journey.
The new French fry was designed to retain heat and crispness for between 15 and 30 minutes to accommodate the brand’s growth in drive-thru, carry-out and other off-premises sales channels, said John Li, Wendy’s vice president of culinary innovation.
“They are cut above, literally,” said Emily Kessler, Wendy’s senior specialist for culinary and innovation, in a Zoom press conference Thursday. “And that's because these not-exactly-square French fries are by design.
“One side is built with a thicker side, and it's built for heat retention, while the other side is thinner and that’s really to enhance crispiness because we know our customers want hot and crispy fries every time,” Kessler said.
The company last overhauled its fries in November 2010 when it moved to skin-on potatoes.
Li said the new French fry formula has performed well in consumer research.
“Emily and the whole cross-functional team have spent months and months and months on perfecting the best hot, crispy French fry,” Li said, “and we finally have it. … We put some really hard effort into this with a lot of blood, sweat and tears but to actually end up with a fry that is nearly two-to-one preference versus our primary competitor McDonald's, it's pretty exciting.”
The new French fry formula fits into Wendy’s “Fast Food Done Right” motto, Li said.
Li, who admitted to enjoying a squiggle of ketchup on each of his fries, said, “Soggy fries don't make for a very good eating experience when you try to do that.”
Besides specifying the unsquared cut, Wendy’s adds “a whisper” of coating to enhance the crispiness, Kessler said. While the fries are gluten free, they are cooked in the same hot oil as the chicken, which is battered and does contain traces of gluten.
The hold time of 15 to 30 minutes for the fries also helps address the off-premises challenge of moisture getting into the potatoes.
“We know COVID changed the game when it comes to how our customers are getting their food,” Kessler said. “That accelerated the need to develop to make sure our fries are withstanding that delivery experience.”
Fries are not only the best-selling item on the Wendy’s menu, Li said, but they are the first product sampled by customers from the bag when they leave the drive-thru. “Our opportunity was to make sure that we were delivering our promise,” he said.
Wendy's Big Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger.jpgWendy’s culinary team also said that next week it will add a Big Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger to the higher-end “Made to Crave” menu, at a suggested price of $5.59 at participating restaurants.
The new cheeseburger boasts features a beef patty topped with Wendy's signature Applewood smoked bacon, custom bacon sauce, crispy onions, American cheese and a creamy cheddar cheese spread in a new cheddar bun that is toasted.
For the second quarter ended July 4, Wendy’s net income rose to $65.7 million, or 29 cents a share, from $24.9 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenues rose to $493.3 million from $402.3 million in last year’s quarter.
Same-store sales were up 16.1% in the United States, up 31.4% internationally and up 17.4% systemwide.
Wendy's, founded in 1969, has more than 6,800 restaurants worldwide.
If they’re still using ‘vegetable’ oil, then NO THANKS.
If it’s not cooked in beef tallow and cottonseed oil, then meh. I’ll just make my own. The day leftists demanded McDonald’s use crappy vegetable oil (which is actually more harmful than Lard or beef fat) was the day I stopped eating at McDonald’s.
Back when McDonald’s fries were done in beef tallow, and they salted them propey, they really were a treat. I try to maintain an extreme low carb diets so for the most part fries are anathema, but I do allow myself a cheat day every 10-14 days.
Is this a add for Wendy’s?
Decades ago they were a lot better. The secret to good French fries is lard or beef tallow.
Julia Child on McDonald’s French fries:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF31qCrclC0
Again?? 35 years ago they had good fries. They’ve been screwing around with them ever since.
About damn time. Wendy’s used to have great fries, almost as good as MickyDs. Then they changed for the worse. I hate the skin on and don’t even buy them. My kids won’t eat them either.
Yep. Great minds and all. Vegetable oil is crap.
Fast-food frozen fries have been pretty lousy for the last 30 years or so ever since most of the big chains dumped beef tallow as their fry oil in favor of soybean or canola. Now, in my opinion, the only good fast-food fries are the fresh-cut ones from Five Guys (peanut oil) and In-N-Out (sunflower oil, I think).
Peanut oil is pretty good for wok stir-frying.
I don’t know much about Wendy’s or their fries. Rarely eat fast food unless we’re on a long road trip. I like Chick fil A’s waffle fries.
That’s a common POV from everyone I talk to about McDonald’s fries. They’re good right out of the fryer, but go downhill as soon as they start to cool.
What does the Taliban Leadership say?
Fry them in tallow.
The food is fine. They need to stop hiring people who look like gang bangers
Burger King used to be all right a long time ago but now it's typically ghetto.
Fries at Five Guys are great. Their burgers are good too. But seems to be overpriced.
Not being snarky here but what do you mean by “ghetto” as applied to BK.
.
Agree
Mc Don’s really screwed up their fries when they caved to the health Nazis during the Obama regime. My wife use to love them now she would rather have anyone else’s fries instead
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