Summer is a time that, for many people, is inextricable from berries — even if regular picking trips to the forest are not part of one's family traditions, those associations are sure to be cemented by the heavy marketing efforts of the fast food industry.
Many a chain has encouraged customers to "burst into the season" with limited time offers (LTOs) featuring more fruit and berries than usual.
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While Wendy's (WEN) launches different takes on the summer salad with berries every year, the chain also introduced the Strawberry Frosty in 2022.
Wendy's
A Beloved Strawberry Treat Is Back For a Second Round
This addition was significant because it does not happen all that often — the mix between a shake and ice cream was one of the original five items that Wendy's had on its menu when it launched in 1969 and, until 2006, only came in the chocolate flavor.
The Frosty machines at most Wendy's restaurants are only equipped to have two flavors at a time and adding anything new inevitably means taking another flavor away. That's why, save for some seasonal experiments like the peppermint flavor during the 2022 holiday season and the elusive Birthday Cake Frosty of 2019, the two flavors are usually the original chocolate and vanilla introduced in the mid-aughts.
But, as Wendy's announced at the start of May, the Strawberry Frosty is back for another round. Just like last year, it will be around during the summer season and join other new seasonal items such as the Ghost Pepper Ranch Chicken Sandwich and Ghost Pepper Fries.
"The sweet and real strawberry puree we use delivers the refreshing taste of summer in every spoonful," John Li, Wendy's vice president of culinary innovation, said in a statement. "After the response we saw last year, we knew it was something that deserved to reclaim its place on this summer's menu!"
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The Strawberry Frosty takes the place of vanilla in the two-section machines used by the Wendy's stores. It will be available at most locations across the country from May 2 until an undisclosed date determined by both seasonality and supply.
As hinted at by Li, the Strawberry Frosty quickly became a summer social media favorite as many fans started sharing its bright pink color on Meta's (META) Instagram and TikTok.
Still, adding it to menus permanently would require spending significant funds to fully replace the machines currently used at Wendy's restaurants.
While the machine problem is the biggest setback keeping Wendy's from introducing more Frosty flavors into its regular lineup, various seasonal promotions also help create a "gotta have it now" factor that many chains rely on to keep their products at the top of customers' minds at different points in the year.
While peppermint and gingerbread are the go-to holiday flavors, strawberries are a perfect tie-in for early summer as the fruit typically is harvested between mid-June and early July.
"You need consistency because that’s the brand mantra," Alexander Chernev, a food industry marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management told CNN in 2019. "But no matter how much you like something, consuming something different … increases the enjoyment of what you consumed before."
