Franchises are Heating Up Their Flavor Profiles

Walk into almost any chain restaurant in America, and you’re sure to encounter spicy menu items that’ll put a little sweat on your brow. A few years ago, sriracha was just some weird, unpronounceable hot sauce that you might find in Chinatown. Today, it’s everywhere you look. KFC has tried its hand at a Nashville specialty—Hot Chicken. And hot peppers are being infused in just about any food product imaginable. Wendy’s ghost pepper fries? Bring on the fury.

According to a recent Technomic survey, 54 percent of customers said they preferred fiery foods and sauces. This craving for spicy foods is heating up, and more and more restaurants are dishing up adventurous concoctions to appeal to consumers’ insatiable appetites for hot flavors to boost traffic.

“When it comes to spicy food, a lot of the consumer research being done on the topic today clearly shows that the public’s desire for heat just keeps growing and growing every year,” Brad Haley, chief marketing officer of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, said in a press release announcing their El Diablo burger—a fiery “lava bomb” of jalapenos, habanero bacon sauce and pepper-Jack cheese. “We’ve witnessed that phenomenon in our own restaurants, where potential menu items that used to be rated as ‘too spicy’ in our market tests just a few years ago are now just right.”

In recent years, there’s been a broadening of the country’s collective palate, and more than ever, consumers are open to all kinds of culinary experiences. Nearly 75 percent of Millennials say that they want to experience more flavors at restaurants, while 62 percent describe themselves as adventurous eaters. Quick-service and fast-casual franchises are paying attention to these numbers, and by adding spicier options, restaurants are learning that they can draw from the rising trend of daring—and younger—customers. Burger King introduced a Spicy Big Fish Sandwich and a Spicy BLT Whopper in 2015. The menu at Popeye’s had Ghost Pepper Wings, featuring the intense spice of one of the world’s hottest peppers. And Denny’s, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Your Pie and Pizza Hut are among the outlets that have mixed Sriracha sauce into their menu.

But perhaps no other food is better equipped to deliver ultimate spice levels than Buffalo wings. Buffalo Wings & Rings has been playing with spices, flavors and ingredients from a variety of worldly cuisines for years. In 2015, the brand introduced a first-of-its-kind The Wings of Fury, a limited-time-offer chicken wing tossed in a curry powder dry rub, crisply fried and topped with sriracha sauce. Beef ‘O’ Brady’s stepped up their spice game by reformulating their “Nuclear” flavor, which is drenched in a sauce of pureed Ghost Peppers. And Checkers & Rally’s serves their own version of fiery wings, called the “Angry Buffalo.”

“I remember eight or nine years ago, talking to chain restaurant executives about spicy food. The way they tested their menu items at that time, everybody had to like whatever they were testing. It had to score high among the vast majority of their customers, and that meant that they never offered really spicy food because it was considered polarizing,” said Bret Thorn in a Nation’s Restaurant News discussion on America’s evolve palate. “Now the food even at mass-market chains has gotten a lot spicier. We’re seeing a seismic shift, and I think these bold flavors will be here to stay.”