When Wendy's launched its breakfast menu in 2020 it very clearly tried to set itself up as a challenger to McDonald's. That makes sense because the No. 1 fast-food burger chain has set the standard for a quick morning meal and it has dominated the space since the launch of the iconic Egg McMuffin in 1971.
Wendy's (WEN) -) ads pointed out that its breakfast menu included fresh-cracked eggs, which was a not-too-subtle dig at McDonald's (MCD) -). The chain, however, came back into the breakfast space at an unfortunate time -- March 2020 -- the early days of the covid pandemic.
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The chain continued its rollout despite the fact that covid shut down many offices and forced tens of millions of Americans to work from home. That made a fast-food breakfast offering less valuable because people were no longer commuting to work, or even leaving their houses.
It's hard to sell a quick, affordable, on-the-go breakfast when people no longer have anyplace to be, but the chain pushed forward. Now, Wendy's has steadily grown its morning market share and it's taking a very direct shot at McDonald's' most-beloved breakfast institution, the Egg McMuffin.
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Wendy's adds new English muffin sandwiches
When Wendy's launched its breakfast menu it had a variety of sandwiches served on biscuits, hamburger buns, and even croissants. That meant the chain had an answer for Burger King's Croissan'wich, but not the McDonald's Egg McMuffin.
That will change on August 22 when Wendy's launched two new breakfast-only English muffin sandwiches.
"Complete with a one-of-a-kind savory buttery spread that marries a hint of brown butter sweetness with fresh black pepper. Light, fluffy and perfectly pillowy, the new morning additions are topped with a fresh-cracked egg, your choice of oven-baked Applewood Smoked bacon cooked daily (unlike the other guys...) or a savory grilled sausage patty and finished off with melted American cheese," the chain shared in a press release.
"We tested 60 variations of our English Muffin Sandwiches before we landed on these light and fluffy English Muffins," Wendy's Global Vice President of Culinary Innovation John Li said in a news release.
Short of cooking up Birdie the Early Bird for lunch, that's about as bold a move as Wendy's could make when it comes to throwing down a challenge to McDonald's.
Wendy's has been growing its breakfast business
While Wendy's no longer shares specific totals for its breakfast business, CEO Todd Penegor did speak about its efforts to grow morning sales during his chain's second-quarter-earnings call.
"We know there's significant growth ahead of us at the breakfast daypart. In the U.S., we achieved our highest quarterly breakfast sales volumes of all time, supported by our $3 croissant promotion resulting in mid-single digit sales growth versus the prior year," he said.
That's something the CEO expects Wendy's to build on.
"We expect to continue building on this momentum with our recently launched Frosty Cream Cold Brew, additional menu innovation launching soon, and more consistent promotional activity to drive trial and repeat," he added. "All in, we continue to expect the breakfast daypart will deliver outsized sales growth in 2023 and beyond."
