Wendy’s has tried to carve out a place in the fast-food burger wars by offering higher-quality burgers than McDonald’s and Burger King do. 

That strategy traces back to the days of company Founder Dave Thomas, who built the company on the concept of offering “fresh, never frozen” hamburgers.

Thomas never said “unlike McDonald’s and Burger King,” but that was clearly the implication. Wendy’s food was fresher, made from better ingredients in a way that involved a little more love. 

Related: McDonald’s menu adds massive new burger nationwide

The chain told the same story when it launched breakfast across the U.S. in 2020. Wendy’s targeted McDonald’s by highlighting that it planned to offer fresh cracked eggs instead of the seemingly premade patties McDonald’s (MCD) – Get Free Report offered.

In reality, McDonald’s uses fresh eggs in some of its sandwiches. 

“We use a USDA Grade A cracked into an ‘egg ring’ to get that iconic round shape for our Egg McMuffin,” the chain said on its website.

McDonald’s does use precooked “folded” eggs for some of its breakfast sandwiches but not its signature Egg McMuffins, which use the ring-cooked eggs.

Wendy’s has leaned on the idea that it offers better quality fast food, with McDonald’s and, to a lesser extent, Burger King being the chains it’s challenging for customers. The company calls its menu “Fast Food Done Right: your go-to for real, fresh, craveable food that doesn’t cost a fortune and the new breakfast menu attests to that,” the company said in 2020.

Now, Wendy’s has expanded its breakfast menu with a product that McDonald’s offers but that is more synonymous with Yum Brands’  (YUM) – Get Free Report Taco Bell.

Wendy’s expands its breakfast menu

While McDonald’s offers a breakfast burrito, a sausage burrito to be specific, it’s a pretty weak entry into that space. Everyone knows what a traditional burrito looks like, and the McDonald’s version is more of a skinny rollup than a classic burrito like the ones you would find on Taco Bell’s menu.

Taco Bell offers three burritos under the Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito name. The offerings, which come in at 570 calories each, include steak, bacon and sausage versions.

Wendy’s has now decided to enter the breakfast-burrito space and its new morning offering looks hearty — bigger than any of the burritos on Taco Bell’s menu. 

“Wendy’s has a new Breakfast Burrito heading to locations nationwide later this month. The burrito features fresh cracked eggs, American cheese, applewood smoked bacon, seasoned potatoes, breakfast cheese sauce, all served with two packs of Cholula Hot Sauce,” Markie Devo reported on Instagram.

The new Wendy’s Breakfast Burrito launches nationwide on Jan. 22. The chain has not detailed nutritional information for the new menu item.

Wendy’s has a breakfast plan

Wendy’s no longer reports its breakfast sales on a specific dollar basis, but Chief Executive Todd Penegor spoke broadly about the company’s results during its third-quarter-earnings call.

“At the breakfast daypart, we continue to execute against our playbook of driving sales through innovation and promotions,” he said.

Penegor made clear that continued menu innovation has been part of its recipe for morning success.

“We once again expanded our menu with the launch of our new frosty cream cold brew and English muffin sandwiches,” the CEO said. 

“We also launched a new value offering, our two for three Biggie bundles, which drove a meaningful sequential sales increase following its introduction and contributed to an acceleration in breakfast sales in the back half of the quarter.”

Penegor says customers are price-conscious at the moment.

“We know that value remains very important to the breakfast consumer and we plan to more consistently offer compelling value promotions to drive trial and repeat at this highly profitable daypart through year end and beyond,” he shared.

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