Taco Bell
The restaurant has locations primarily in the United States and Canada, but also operates outlets in several other markets.
Corporate profile
History
Taco Bell's original restaurant design with their first logo sign.
After experimenting with alternative food items, Glen Bell opened three Taco-Tia stands between 1954 and 1955, which he later sold to his partners. He then opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California on March 21, 1962.
The first Taco Bell franchise was sold in 1964 and the company became public in 1969.
The chain was spun off along with Pepsi's other fast food restaurant holdings as Tricon Global Restaurants in October 1997. Tricon became Yum! Brands in May 2002.
General operations
Taco Bell's headquarters in Irvine, California
Corporate Website:
http:www.tacobell.com/
Smaller Taco Bell outlets, offering a reduced version of the menu, appear in malls, airport terminals, university and military base dining halls, department stores, hotels, gas stations, and other locations.
Some school lunch programs also offer Taco Bell items under the Taco Bell Express branding.
The Taco Bell name is also used under license by Kraft Foods, which offers a line of taco shells, spices, salsa, and other Mexican foods (including full meal kits) featuring the Taco Bell Home Originals name in supermarkets nationwide.
As of 2005, there are 5,845 Taco Bell restaurants in the United States, including 1,252 company-owned locations, 3,803 franchisees, and 790 licenses. There is a 3% drop in branches compared with 2001. Internationally there are 243 locations, 201 franchisees and 42 licensees, which adds up to growth of 2% since 2001.
Over the last several years, Yum! Brands, Inc.
has been co-locating its various restaurant franchises (KFC, Long John Silver's, A&W, and Pizza Hut).
Results
As of 2007 Taco Bell is the best-performing brand of Yum Brands, having USD1.8 billion sales for company-owned stores in the United States (compounded annual growth rate of 6% from 2001), and sales of USD4.4 billion for franchisees and licensees in the United States (compounded annual growth rate of 3% from 1999).
Taco Bell also has the largest sales per system unit in Yum!, having USD 1.17 million sales per system unit, excluding licensees.
Co-branding
A Co-branded Taco Bell and KFC
Many Taco Bell Express brand outlets can be found in suburban strip malls, often adjacent to other Yum!-brand eateries, most notably Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Long John Silvers.
Lawsuit
A lawsuit filed in 1998 by Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks alleged Taco Bell failed to pay them for use of the Chihuahua character they created. The men alleged that Taco Bell had breached payment on a contract after they worked with the restaurant chain for a year to develop the talking Chihuahua for use in marketing.
The talking Chihuahua became a hit with the first advertisement, in which the character bypasses a female Chihuahua for a Taco Bell taco and declares: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." The two men received $30.1 million, plus an addition of $11.4 million in interest. Taco Bell said it would appeal the verdict.
50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, filed a federal lawsuit against Taco Bell on July 23, 2008. The suit claims that his name was used in a print ad asking him to change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent as a part of the "Why Pay More?" campaign.
50 Cent was not aware of the ad until it came out, while fake letters containing the name change request were sent to the news media for promotional purposes. Acquisitions
In 1984, Taco Bell acquired Pup 'N' Taco.
In 1986, Taco Bell acquired the Faux-Mex restaurant chain known as Zantigo, known for their Chilito, a chili-cheese burrito.
The name was later quietly changed to Chili Cheese Burrito after comedian Paul Rodriguez pointed out the negative connotations of the word chilito (a slang word for penis) in Mexican Spanish dialect.
Border Bell
In 1997, PepsiCo experimented with a new "fresh grill" concept, opening at least one Border Bell restaurant in Mountain View, California on El Camino Real (SR 82). In addition to a subset of the regular Taco Bell menu, Border Bell offered Mexican-inspired items like those available from Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants (then owned by PepsiCo), such as Chevys signature sweet corn tamalito pudding and a fresh salsa bar. Close to the time that PepsiCo spun off its restaurant business in 1997, the Border Bell in Mountain View was closed and converted to a Taco Bell restaurant, which is still open as of 2008.
Products
Taco Bell logo used from 1985 to 1994
Taco Bell menu
Tacos
Burritos
Gorditas
Chalupas
Nachos
Quesadillas
Taquitos
Mexican pizza
Taco Bell's dessert options include the Caramel Apple Empanada and Cinnamon Twists.
As of 2008, Taco Bell has removed the red sauce and cheese from the sides of rice.
Big Bell Value menu
In the late-1980s, Taco Bell commonly advertised its "59, 79, 99" pricing plan, in which nearly everything on the menu was either 59¢, 79¢, or 99¢.
Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme
Despite Taco Bell's relatively cheap per-item pricing, it never had a true value menu until the mid-2000s. The introduction of the value menu also brought new items to the restaurant's offerings, notably items made with potatoes and Taco Bell's third dessert, the Caramel Apple Empanada.
(Cinnamon Crispas, triangular fried flour tortilla shells, were offered until being replaced by Cinnamon Twists.) The Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito recently replaced the Bean Burrito Especial, which was removed because of its small profit margin. However, the Bean Burrito Especial is still on The Big Bell Value Menu in some markets in the western markets in addition to the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito.
Also of note is that half of the menu is not truly new, as Beef Combo Burritos, Cheesy Bean and Rice Burritos, Double Decker Tacos, and both Spicy Chicken items had been on the regular menu before, as permanent or limited time only items.
The Big Bell Value Menu (usually) includes:
Grande Soft Taco: two 6" tortillas with nacho cheese in between, a double portion of beef, then lettuce and cheese
Double Decker Taco: beans on a 6" tortilla wrapped around a crunchy taco with beef, lettuce, and cheese
Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito: beans, rice, nacho cheese, 3-cheese blend, jalapeño sauce, and fiesta salsa
Beef Combo Burrito: beans, a double portion of beef, red sauce, cheese, and onion
Beef & Potato Burrito: beef, red sauce, potatoes, and sour cream
Spicy Chicken Burrito: spicy chicken, rice, creamy jalapeño sauce, and fiesta salsa
Spicy Chicken Soft Taco: spicy chicken (1.5 oz), lettuce (.5 oz), fiesta salsa (.5 oz.)
Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes: warm nacho cheese, cool sour cream, golden fried potatoes
Caramel Apple Empanada: warm caramel sauce and apple chunks
Why Pay More Value Menu
In May 2008, a new value meal called Why Pay More Value Menu debuted. This new value menu contains some of the items from the previous value menu as well as several new ones.
The menu setup is as follows:
79¢ Items:
Melted Three Cheese Rollup (New): flour tortilla with a blend of three cheeses
Triple Layer Nachos (New): nacho chips with Taco Bell's Red Sauce, beans and nacho cheese sauce
Cinnamon Twists
89¢ Items:
Crunchy Taco
Soft Taco
Cheesy Double Beef Burrito (New): flour tortilla with two portions of beef, Mexican rice and nacho cheese sauce
99¢ Items:
Big Taste Taco (New): flour tortilla with beef, lettuce, crunchy Red Strips, cheddar cheese and Creamy Jalapeño Sauce
Bean Burrito
1/2 lb. The two flavors are Mango Strawberry and Strawberry; both are topped with real strawberries.
http:www.tacobell.com/frutistafreeze/
Big Bell Box Meal
In April of 2008.
All new Big Bell Box Meal that features a Bacon Club Chalupa, Beef Crunchy Taco, Bean Burrito and Cinnamon Twists loaded into one big box and paired with a large drink, all for only $4.99.
Combining some of Taco Bell's menu items and packaging them together in a convenient and portable box.
http:www.tacobell.com/bigbox/
Launched with broadcast TV advertising in April 2008 featuring comedic radio personality Adam Corolla who prompts viewers to "eat like a man" and that they "deserve a meal made for men."
Promotional/discontinued items
7-Layer Crunchwrap (still available in some locations)
Bacon Cheeseburger Burrito
Bacon Cheeseburger Taco Supreme
The Bell-Beefer - a taco like hamburger with a hamburger bun, taco meat, cheese, tomato, and lettuce.
BLT Chicken Soft Taco
Border Ices - Tropical flavored ice pops
The Cheesarito
The Cheesy Beefy Melt
Cheesy Gordita Crunch (still available in some locations)
Chicken Caesar Grilled Stuft Burrito
Chicken and Steak Grilled Taquitos (now on permanent menu)
Chicken Enchilada Grilled Stuft Burrito
Chicken Fajita Burrito
Chili Cheese Nachos Bellgrande
Club Chalupa (first released in 2004, currently on a second run in spring of 2008. Now labeled as the "Bacon Club Chalupa" however the ingredients are the same.
Crunchwrap Supreme (now on permanent menu)
Enchirito (now on permanent menu -- had been discontinued for years and brought back recently, albeit with a slightly different preparation)
Extreme Cheese and Beef Quesadilla
Good Humor's Choco Taco was also offered for a short while
Grande Quesadilla
Nacho Crunch Grilled Stuft Burrito
Taco Bellgrande
Ultimate Chalupa - Chalupa with chicken or steak, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, 3 cheese blend, and fiesta salsa
Volcano Burrito (a special promotion in conjunction with the 1995 film Congo)
Zesty Nachos
In 1991, Taco Bell launched a Fiesta menu which had smaller sized versions of four their popular menu items: the taco, soft taco, bean burrito and tostada.
Each item was approximately 40% smaller than the normal versions and cost $.39 each.
In the early-1990s, Taco Bell changed its menu due to pressure concerning the nutritional value of items labeled "Lite". In the sci-fi story Taco Bell is the only remaining restaurant chain in the world.
The Taco Bell is portrayed in the futuristic purple/pink design.
Reduction of trans fats
As of April, 2007, Taco Bell has switched to zero trans fat per serving frying oil in all of its US single-branded locations.
This has greatly reduced the levels of trans fats in most Taco Bell menu items, but they are still not completely free of trans fats.
"Fresco Menu"
In 2003, Taco Bell launched the "fresco style" menu. By ordering something fresco style, the item's cheese and/or sauce is replaced by the chain's fiesta salsa.
Using this option cuts the fat in the product in half in some cases. The Fiesta Salsa is a zesty mix of diced tomatoes, white onions and cilantro that replaces the cheese and sauce and adds only five calories per serving and no fat.
http:www.tacobell.com/fresco/
The Fresco Menu includes the following items:
Fresco Crunchy Taco - 8 grams of fat - 150 calories
Fresco BURRITO SUPREME - Chicken - 8 grams of fat - 330 calories
Fresco BURRITO SUPREME - Steak - 8 grams of fat - 330 calories
Fresco Bean Burrito - 7 grams of fat - 330 calories
Fresco Fiesta Burrito - Chicken - 8 grams of fat - 330 calories
Fresco Soft Taco - 7 grams of fat - 180 calories
Fresco Zesty Chicken BORDER BOWL - 8 grams of fat - 350 calories
Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco - 4.5 grams of fat - 160 calories
Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco - 4 grams of fat - 170 calories
Advertising
In 1995, Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon appeared in a series of commercials promoting the Double Decker Taco, which would become a permanent menu item.
On April 1, 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it to "the Taco Liberty Bell." Thousands of people who did not immediately understand the press release as an April Fool's Day hoax protested.
In March of 2001, Taco Bell announced a promotion to coincide with the re-entry of the Mir space station.
They towed a large target out into the Pacific Ocean, announcing that if the target was hit by a falling piece of Mir, every person in the United States would be entitled to a free Taco Bell taco. The company bought a sizable insurance policy for this "gamble." No piece of the station struck the target.
In 2003, Costa Rican Taco Bell franchises temporarily marketed their tacos as "Tacos ticos", because for Costa Ricans, the word "taco" refers to what is known in Mexico as a flauta.
("Tico" is a colloquial term for natives of Costa Rica.)
In 2004, a local Taco Bell franchisee bought the naming rights to the former Boise State Pavilion in Boise, Idaho and renamed the stadium the Taco Bell Arena. In the summer of 2004, PepsiCo and Taco Bell introduced Mountain Dew Baja Blast.
Some of their most recent "limited time only" items have included the Ultimate Chalupa (chalupa with chicken or steak, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, three-cheese blend, and fiesta salsa), and the Nacho Crunch Grilled Stuft Burrito.
A commercial in May 2008 features two men at the speaker in the Taco Bell drive-thru, for the 89-cent burrito promo. In response to the popular commercial, some people actually went to Taco Bells and did the rap.
After each Portland Trail Blazers home game held at the Rose Garden Arena in which the Blazers scored at least 100 points, everyone that attended the game would receive a coupon for a free chalupa from Taco Bell.
This tradition started sometime before 2003.
Promotional partners
Slogans
Taca-taca-taca-taca-taca-taca Taco Bell! (1974-1983)
Ooh! What a difference Taco Bell makes! (1977-1980)
Make a run for the border.
Nothing ordinary about it.
The Cure for the Common Meal.
It's Deliciously Different. (For Taco Bell's late night day part) (1999-2001)
Good To Go (Paired with various Crunchwrap promotions) (2000-2005)
Fourthmeal (Term developed to help promote Late Night day part.
(2001-present)
You Need Fourthmeal.
Feed the Beat (Established in 2006 and engaged up-and-coming indie rock bands and supported them on their journey to become a breakthrough band.)
Mascots
Taco Bell has not had many mascots to this date. In 1995, they introduced two mascots to promote the Taco Bell kids' meal, the Ren and Stimpy-esque Nacho and Dog.
Dog is a dog who is more well-behaved than Nacho and gets all his knowledge of the world by reading books. They were dropped in mid-1997.
In September 1997, the Taco Bell chihuahua was introduced.
The little dog's real name was "Gidget", but that was never publicized in the ad campaign. The character was voiced by comedian, and cartoon voice-over artist, Carlos Alazraqui of Reno 911! and Rocko's Modern Life.
By 1998, the Taco Bell chihuahua was known as the biggest commercial star on the planet, but his popularity dropped significantly by 2000. The venture only had moderate success, and eventually some standalone Taco Bell restaurants were 'split' to offer KFC as well.
Former Taco Bell sites were rebranded as KFC or Pizza Hut.
China
Taco Bell Grande's Logo
In 2003, Yum! Brands introduced the Taco Bell brand into People's Republic of China. In addition to the usual taco and burritos, Taco Bell Grande also serves other Mexican cuisine like albóndigas (meatball soup), tomatillo grilled chicken, fajitas, and alcoholic drinks such as Margaritas.
The Fries Supreme, French fries topped with ground beef, cheese, sour cream, and green onions is one of the more popular side-orders.
United Kingdom
Currently, there are only two Taco Bell locations in England, both operated by AAFES on air bases RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. They are not accessible to the general public.
The United Kingdom was the first European country with a Taco Bell, two stores, one located on Coventry Street in London, between Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus and one in Earls Court were opened in the 1980s.
The stores underperformed and were shut down, today the Coventry Street site is occupied by a branch of the sit-down restaurant chain TGI Friday's. It is operated as a part of KFC establishment in Hafnarfjörður, suburb of Reykjavík.
Only Military personnel, dependents, and Contract personnel both DoD and Civilian and their authorized guests have access to them.
Mexico
After a failed attempt to enter the market in 1992 that finished with all the restaurants closing 2 years later, in September 2007 Taco Bell returned to the country. The first restaurant in the northern city of Monterrey is part of a plan to open between 8 and 10 more locations in 2008 and eventually reach 300 stores.
Philippines
In 2004, Taco Bell opened three restaurants in Manila, Philippines.
Singapore
Currently there are a few KFC outlets in Singapore that also sell Taco Bell meals, for example, the Hougang KFC Taco Bell outlet in Heartland Mall, Hougang South, beside Kovan MRT Station along Upper Serangoon Road.