Wendy's Franchisees Could Hit Snooze on Breakfast Menu Rollout

Wendy’s announced in October that it would be rolling out its breakfast menu nationwide starting in 2020. The brand currently serves breakfast at a mere 300 of its over 6,000 stores. According to Nation’s Restaurant News, in a third-quarter earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Gunter Plosch announced that the company will be open to hearing concerns from franchisees.  The offer comes with stipulations, however. 

“They need to demonstrate on their side that they have really put their best foot forward,” Plosch said as reported by Nation’s Restaurant News. “...we passionately believe that we have designed a very, very compelling breakfast program that is profitable and, therefore, we really expect the opt-out range to be very, very low.”

Overall, leadership is very optimistic about the menu launch, anticipating at least 10% growth of U.S. sales. The company is betting $20 million on the appeal to early morning bacon lovers looking for a new alternative to other QSR options. 

Last month, Wendy’s saw booming sales thanks to the reintroduction of fan-favorite spicy chicken nuggets, but breakfast is a different beast for operators. While extended hours and an entirely new menu could be a real undertaking for some franchisees, company leadership stressed that the labor model for the breakfast menu is as simple as possible, requiring only three employees. 

Read the full story in NRN here.