Dan Barash, director of research and development for Moe's Southwest Grill, worked his way on a recent morning through a replica of Moe's kitchen assembled in an office building on the outskirts of Atlanta.
Barash spent the first part of his career as a chef at fine-dining eateries, such as the Capital Grille and Roy's, where entrees alone could hit $40.
But on this day, Barash and a small crew were busy whipping up more than a dozen burritos, quesadillas and rice bowls designed to sell for $7 or less.
The items, built with recipes he declined to fully detail, were presented to a panel of franchisees armed with scoring sheets. If they approve, these dishes could one day reach hundreds of Moe's outlets.
"When you work at fine dining, it's the instant gratification," Barash said. "You need to please 400 people in the next three hours. With this, it's more thought out. There's a lot more strategy behind it."
In the highly competitive restaurant industry, Moe's and other Atlanta-based restaurant chains are turning to trained chefs, food scientists, nutritionists and operations specialists to win customers with a steady stream of new or improved menu items.
It's an urgent, but not hasty, process. New food items must typically clear a set of internal and external hurdles. After passing a taste test of franchisees and executives, they're put through short runs in a small number of stores before being approved for a nationwide launch. It can take up to 18 months for an item to make it from test kitchen to restaurant table.
But menu churn has become a part of the industry. Last year alone, Mintel Menu Insights, part of market research firm Mintel International, tracked almost 12,000 new food items on the menus of 575 U.S. restaurants included in its survey.
The economy has become the biggest near-term driver of menu changes, said Maria Caranfa, a food-service analyst and director of Mintel Menu Insights in Chicago. Restaurants are coming up with items at lower price points and pushing the boundaries of what they offer, Caranfa said. Domino's Pizza, for instance, is selling subs and pasta bowls.
The industry also is shifting to classic foods as safer bets during times of uncertainty, she said. Even full-service restaurants are pushing milkshakes, burgers and meatball subs.
"They're not trying something risky," Caranfa said. "They're putting out flavors that have been popular."
Arby's new strategy
Metro Atlanta, home to more major restaurant chains than any other area in the United States, is dotted with test kitchens. Arby's, Church's Chicken, Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, Cinnabon, Carvel, MaggieMoo's and Great American Cookies are just some of the brands with test kitchens here.
At the Arby's culinary innovation center on Atlanta's north side, a 12-person staff constantly works on menu additions. Earlier this year, Arby's put its own twist on a familiar food item with the launch of Roastburgers, which pair the chain's sliced roast beef with burger toppings.
Arby's culinary team began working on Roastburgers last year after Tom Garrett, Arby's president and CEO, noticed a surge in news tied to burger chains, said Brian Kolodziej, Arby's vice president of product development.
"What's our answer to this?" Garrett wrote on notes to Kolodziej.
In August, the Arby's team presented its first set of Roastburgers for internal review. About 20 versions were pared to three: All-American, Bacon and Bleu Cheese, and Bacon and Cheddar. The company says the line has done so well that it will add a fourth Roastburger — one topped with barbecue sauce, bacon and shredded onions — as a limited-time-only product this summer.
At Arby's, Kolodziej said, the aim is to push the envelope on new flavors while building on areas where the chain already has a strong reputation, such as its roast beef sandwiches.
"When we build upon and create extensions of these, that's a way to get customers either re-interested if they've not been back to the brand in awhile or maintain their interest if they have," Kolodziej said.
Creativity not lost
Focus Brands, owners of Moe's, Cinnabon, Carvel and Schlotzsky's, holds quarterly tastings for each brand with franchisees to screen ideas.
Focus found success earlier this year with the Phil E. Burrito at Moe's. Market research told the chain that Moe's was seen as Americanized Mexican food, giving it license to use a Philly cheese-steak theme on a burrito, said Barash, Moe's head of R&D.
Barash said he can be just as creative at the lower price points of Moe's as he could at high-end restaurants. A large part of his job, though, involves breaking down the process in steps easy enough for a teenager to produce the same results.
"We'll take pictures of it here," Barash said. "We'll train the trainers and then the trainers take it to the store."
The frequency and timing of menu changes varies by brand and even region for Focus, said Stan Dorsey, Focus Brands executive chef and vice president of research and development.
Cinnabon, for example, developed a Datebon, primarily for its Middle East markets, and a Dulce de Leche Bon rolled out across all international markets.
Carvel gears up for major changes every other summer, Dorsey said. Changes help all the chains keep customers interested in their menus and separate themselves from the rest of the field, he said.
"If you're going to maintain that lead or top-of-mind awareness among customers, competitors have to be constantly chasing you," Dorsey said.
Chick-fil-A methodical
Chick-fil-A, which has a test kitchen at its headquarters near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, takes a conservative, methodical approach to change, said Woody Faulk, Chick-fil-A vice president of product development.
"Admittedly, we're slowpokes," he said.
But the chicken chain is constantly looking for ways to refresh its menu, Faulk said.
Chick-fil-A recently launched a peach-flavored milkshake just for the summer. Last year, the chain tweaked several items, including its chicken salad sandwich. The basic item remained the same, but was made with chunkier pieces of chicken and a new wheatberry bread.
"I call it adjusting with responsibility," Faulk said.
The guiding philosophy, he said, is "menu permanence." Chick-fil-A wants items to stay on the menu long-term, so new items often require a longer testing period than seen at other chains. For instance, a spicy fried chicken sandwich it began developing three years ago is still in test phase, Faulk said.
"We know we've got a good product, but do we roll it out chain-wide?" Faulk asked. "We don't like to put things on the menu and take them off because you disappoint customers."
Moving fast
Sometimes chains move quickly.
Atlanta-based NexCen Franchise Management, which does research and development for brand-owner NexCen, started working on the blueberry ice cream for MaggieMoo's earlier this year after a franchisee suggested the flavor would do well. It was added to stores in June.
Blueberry has two advantages, said Michael Curtis, a vice president who oversees the test kitchen.
"The nice thing about the blueberry ice cream is that we can position it within the year and time it with the blueberry season," Curtis said. "Not only are they now in season and people are looking for them, but it gives (franchisees) a cost of goods that they're looking for as well."
This fall, NexCen's Great American Cookies expects to add an apple cookie. The company's Pretzelmaker and Pretzel Time outlets are looking at whole grain pretzel's and turkey hotdogs to appeal to health-conscious consumers.
Not everything works in product development, Curtis said. A few years ago, Great American introduced a "muffle," a cross between a muffin and a waffle.
The muffle, designed to attract more morning customers, tasted great but never sold at the stores, Curtis said. NexCen tries to build a pipeline so it can quickly adjust, he said.
"You always have something behind an item that's in test," Curtis said, "so if the current test item doesn't work out, there's something behind it that may be the 'one' that works for us."
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