Wendy’s menu makes major changes to take down McDonald’s | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Wendy’s had terrible bad luck when it brought back breakfast in March 2020. That launch coincided with another major launch — the Covid pandemic.

The company prepared a massive release right when people began sheltering in place and working from home. It’s hard to sell fast-food breakfast when people aren’t in their car, which put Wendy’s in a terrible spot.

But the tone of the chain’s marketing for that snake-bitten launch made it clear that the company was going after one rival — McDonald’s (MCD) .

“To date, some others in the category have let breakfast consumers down by offering breakfast sandwiches with frozen, folded eggs and pre-cooked bacon. Today, all that changes,” said Wendy’s Chief Marketing Officer Carl Loredo. “We are known for our high-quality food and breakfast is no different. Try any of our craveable items – we believe this menu will become your favorite.”

That’s a clear dig at McDonald’s, which uses all of those questionable ingredients.

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Wendy’s has used this strategy before. It did the same thing even more directly when it relaunched its french fries in 2021.

It’s basically the Howard Stern play of going into a market, calling out the leader, and taking it on directly. That didn’t work with french fries, because McDonald’s are still better, but it might work with breakfast.

McDonald’s has long been the dominant player in breakfast.

Image source&colon; Shutterstock

Wendy’s goes cheap to win over McDonald’s customers

Wendy’s has been slowly growing. Its breakfast business slowly gained traction after its challenging start. The problem is that while it’s all well and good to say you’re using better ingredients — and arguably, they are — it’s something else entirely to prove it to people.

Consumers like the idea of a fresh-cracked egg. They also clearly like whatever the egg is in the various McMuffins.

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Having a better product doesn’t matter if people don’t actually try it. That’s why Wendy’s, in addition to making menu changes, is essentially giving away some of its most popular breakfast sandwiches for $1 each.

Wendy’s has also made this deal very accessible. It’s not app based, and you don’t have to be a member of the chain’s loyalty program to get it.

The breakfast biscuits available as part of the deal are:

Honey Buddy Chicken Biscuit: Crispy-fried white meat chicken paired with honey butter, served in a biscuit.
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: Grilled sausage patty, egg, and cheese on a buttermilk biscuit.
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: Applewood smoked bacon strips, egg, and cheese on a classic biscuit.

Please note that some Wendy’s locations may not participate in the offer. You also won’t be able to go grab a huge sack of sandwiches for the whole office or your own quiet shame, since you are limited to five $1 breakfast sandwiches per person, per day.

Wendy’s tries to make a push into breakfast

McDonald’s has traditionally dominated the fast-food breakfast market. That’s not an area where it’s easy to find numbers, as chains have no obligation to report on daypart sales.

“McDonald’s is the dominant player in the space. In 2023, the Golden Arches received 35.4% of all 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. visits to fast food, quick service restaurants, breakfast, coffee, bakeries, and dessert shops. That’s followed by Starbucks (15.9% market share), Dunkin’ Donuts (14.0%), and Burger King (4.5%),” according to a Yahoo news story.

Wendy’s has made pushing for more breakfast share a major part of its summer marketing plan.

“Memorial Day weekend is the official start to summer, and we’ll start the season the way we start our day, which is with a Wendy’s breakfast. We’ll offer a great deal on all beverages at breakfast. Later in the summer, we will revamp our entire coffee and cold brew lineup,” shared former Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

Tanner is in the process of leaving Wendy’s to take over as Hershey’s CEO.

Progress has been slow, with some quarters gaining and others falling back.

“Breakfast performed worse than rest of day, as consumer behavior changed,” Tanner shared, speaking to Q1 results.