“Whatever that routine is, we need to be part of it,” said CEO Todd Penegor during a Wednesday analyst call discussing the company’s second quarter financial results. “That’s why we’re putting [an] additional $10 million of advertising to work, to make sure that that message is loud and clear.”
Now, the company sees “opportunities to have fun, trial-driving events to get our food in our consumers’ mouths,” Penegor noted. One example? This weekend, Wendy’s is giving away free croissant breakfast sandwiches.
Honey butter chicken biscuits and two for $4 deals
“In the second quarter, our breakfast sales accelerated as expected, growing 10% over the first quarter,” Penegor said. The chain’s $1.99 Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit and two for $4 breakfast deal helped drive the growth, he added, saying that “these promotions have been critical to our success as we continue to see very strong customer repeat and high customer satisfaction after people try our breakfast.” Wendy’s didn’t compare breakfast sales in the second quarter to the same period last year.
In the second quarter, breakfast sales contributed to a 16% spike in US restaurants open for at least 15 months compared to the same period in 2020. Growth was nearly 12% compared to 2019, before the pandemic.
With the additional advertising money, the chain is “confident” that it can increase breakfast sales by 30% in 2021, Penegor said. He added that by the end of next year, about 10% of Wendy’s sales should come from breakfast.
Source : CNN