Breakfast hasn’t been on the menu at Wendy’s nationwide since a failed experiment in the 1980s, but in recent years, the chain has been experimenting with the notion at select locations.
Apparently, the brain trust likes what it sees, and on Monday announced that come 2020, Wendy’s will officially enter the breakfast wars with menu items such as the Breakfast Baconator, a Frosty-ccino, and Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits.
The company will hire 20,000 additional employees in the breakfast push and will spend $20 million to support the effort.
And it appears it will be an effort worth undertaking, according to a pair of CivicScience studies.
For starters, 36% of Americans age 18+ say they are at least “somewhat likely” to sample the breakfast offerings.
Even more impressive: Thirteen percent say they will actively go to Wendy’s more now that breakfast is served.
People who are already fans of Wendy’s are buoyed by the breakfast bonanza, with 47% of Americans who already hold a favorable view of the fast-food chain saying they are at least “somewhat likely” to try breakfast at Wendy’s.
And of those Americans who already like the chain, an impressive 21% say they will frequent the restaurant more now that it will be dishing out a.m. meals.
Interestingly, interest in Wendy’s breakfast cuts across all generations.
Of course, the fast food and quick service breakfast world is crowded, and in order to make this work, Wendy’s will have to pull a few customers away from their normal routines. And the following chart should be music to the ears (and palates) of Wendy’s execs: 55% of Americans who hold a favorable view of McDonald’s McCafé coffee say they’ll give Wendy’s breakfast a whirl.
Wendy’s is holding an investor day event on October 11, where it’s expected the chain will offer more guidance on the timeline for the nationwide rollout.
