Woody Faulk, Chick-fil-A's vice president of brand development, walked around a table of salads, wraps, sandwiches and chicken strips last week at the company's south Atlanta headquarters, rattling off a long list of menu changes set to hit 1,380 Chick-fil-A stores Monday.

The entree salads will come in larger, sturdier bowls. A new chicken and fruit salad will be added. The chicken strips will be larger, cooked in a new marinade and offered with a new smoky mustard sauce.

Rich Addicks/AJC (ENLARGE)

At the Chick-fil-A research and development center, project support specialist Tammy Baker prepares the new chargrilled chicken and fruit salad.

Rich Addicks/AJC (ENLARGE)

The new cool wraps will be served in a multigrain flatbread with green leaf lettuce.

• Photos: Vote for your faves CHICK-FIL-A CHANGES Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A will launch Monday the most aggressive menu changes in the company's history. Entree salads: Will come in deeper, sturdier bowls. A new chargrilled chicken and fruit salad with harvest granola topping is being added. A berry balsamic vinaigrette dressing also is new. Chick-n-Strips: 50 percent larger than current strips, reformulated flavor and a new smoky mustard Chick-fil-A dipping sauce. Cool wraps: Served in a new multigrain flatbread with green leaf lettuce. Chicken salad sandwich: Served on wheatberry bread with green leaf lettuce and elevated to the main menu as a meal option. Choose your side: A small coleslaw or carrot and raisin salad can be substituted for waffle fries for free. A small bowl of chicken soup, medium fruit cup or side salad can be substituted for 55 cents to 65 cents, depending on the outlet. MENU PERMANENCE Chick-fil-A follows a philosophy of "menu permanence," trying to avoid adding and removing items from its menu. Here's a short list of dropped items. Chick-n-Q sandwich (1967 - 1997) Potato salad (1967 - 1995) Grilled 'n Lites chicken skewers (1992-1995) Chicken salad plate (1967 - 1999) Vegetable party tray (1989 - 2000)

The chicken salad sandwich will be chunkier and served on wheatberry bread. The cool wraps will come in a new multigrain flatbread.

And waffle fries can now be swapped out for a host of side items, including coleslaw and chicken soup.

"It's dramatic in terms of the volume of changes," Faulk said. "There are more changes rolling out on May 19 than in any year in Chick-fil-A's history other than the first year."

Chick-fil-A is making the changes to stay ahead of the competition and meet consumer preferences for healthful foods, he said.

The Atlanta-based chain was among the first in the fast-food business to put an entree salad on its menu in 1986. But McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Arby's now all have entree salads with chicken.

"We took a look at the competitors, and we could see some movement," Faulk said. "We knew that if we didn't start acting now, we would be leap-frogged."

Avoiding the veto

Healthy options have become increasingly important to fast-food chains, said Bob Sandelman, chief executive officer of Sandelman & Associates, a San Clemente, Calif.,-based restaurant research and consulting firm.

In 2007, 67 percent of consumers said healthy, nutritious food was important to them when choosing a quick-service restaurant, according to Sandelman & Associates.

Consumers like the ability to swap out fries for other items, Sandelman said. And even if they don't get a salad or wrap each time they visit, they like to have that option, he said.

"Consumers like choices," Sandelman said. "They like to feel like they're in control. ... It also prevents what we call the veto vote among someone in a dining party who says 'I can't go to so-and-so restaurant because they don't have a salad.'"

Remember the Chick-n-Q?

Change, though, does not come quickly at Chick-fil-A, a privately held company known for controlled expansion and recipes that have lasted for decades.

Chick-fil-A menu items must be made from scratch. The chicken breasts are breaded by hand and the lemonade freshly squeezed at the restaurants.

It also follows a strategy of "menu permanence" guided by founder, chairman and Chief Executive Officer Truett Cathy. He believes customers get frustrated when items are dropped.

Chick-fil-A stuck with a barbecue Chick-n-Q sandwich for 30 years before removing it from the menu in 1997. Its only limited time offers are for milkshake flavors.

"Truett Cathy hates to disappoint customers," Faulk said. "We have a bad history of removing things from the menu. Once we put something on the menu, it stays for a long time."

Two years in the making

Chick-fil-A started working two years ago on the menu changes that customers will see Monday. Much of the initial work began in Chick-fil-A's research and development center — an area in company headquarters filled with stainless steel tables, ovens, milkshake makers, waffle potato fryers and covered pressure fryers.

Watching market trends and taking cues from customer feedback, Chick-fil-A's test kitchen developed different versions of the new or improved products. An internal tasting panel narrowed the choices.

The top contenders were then put in front of consumers gathered for taste tests. The winners for different products were moved to a test market of 30 to 50 Chick-fil-A stores for at least three months.

The product is considered for a national rollout depending on sales and the feedback from customers and local store operators in the test markets, said Steve Barker, Chick-fil-A brand development senior consultant.

It's a deliberate process to ensure new products will resonate with customers and work for the operators, he said. "We're ready, aim, fire," Barker said.

New strips, bigger chunks

Angela Canada, a Chick-fil-A food scientist, said she went through 30 to 40 flavors for the new chicken strips before the final version was approved. When coming up with a new product, she focuses first on flavor and then figures out how it can be made in a Chick-fil-A restaurant where meals are served quickly.

"In the back of my mind, I'm thinking about how can this work operationally," Canada said. "But my first charge for myself is how can I create the best-tasting product for our customer."

The strips will be offered as an entree in three and four counts and also served hot on the Chick-n-Strips salad.

They have the same breading as the Chick-fil-A sandwich but a different marinade that gives them a light barbecue flavor. Chick-fil-A will offer a new smoky mustard dipping sauce. The new offering, originally developed at a Fredericksburg, Va., store, will simply be called the Chick-fil-A sauce.

The Chick-fil-A chicken salad sandwich also has been remade. The recipe is the same one Cathy used in 1946 at his first restaurant, the Dwarf Grill.

But the chicken is cut in bigger pieces and served on a new wheatberry bread. For the first time, the chicken salad sandwich also will be offered as a combo meal.

Cathy tasted it this month and approved, said Shona Jonson, a Chick-fil-A food scientist.

"It's the original recipe," Jonson said. "We've just made it better by making it chunkier."

More changes to come

Chick-fil-A began training its store operators in March for the changes. New menu panels will go up Monday. An advertising campaign will be launched in July.

Chick-fil-A also will add a new milkshake flavor, peppermint chocolate chip, for the holiday season, Faulk said. Upgrades for the breakfast menu will be coming in 2009, he said.

The Chick-fil-A sandwich is still at the heart of the chain, Faulk said. Most customers order a chicken sandwich, waffle fries and Coke.

But customers are moving more toward other options, such as salads and wraps, he said.

"We're after creating long-term raving fans," Faulk said. "If they're at a place in their life where they're changing their preferences, we don't want to lose the relationship."