your-own pizzas to signatures, but these are “thought starters” to help the indecisive. Like Wendy’s, Blaze is laser-fo- cused on flavor. To make it easy on customers to change the flavor pro- file of any pizza, the chain released two new Drizzles this summer, working with suppliers to produce them in volume. There’s Spicy Chili Oil with Calabrian chilies and Sweet Hot Honey, a “swicy” blend with a contrasting touch of vinegar. They join a line of Drizzles that includes Pesto, BBQ Sauce, Balsamic Glaze, Buttermilk Ranch and Olive Oil. The drizzles are available at all locations at very small cost to the franchisee but yield big flavor divi- dends that work across the menu. In fact, one of the chain’s most popular signature pizzas has been enhanced with a spicy drizzle and double the pepperoni, garlic and jalapenos to become the new Spicy Pepperoni Pizza. Blaze has gotten “tremendous feedback on the drizzles,” said Kuhn. “These will be followed by a whole drizzle product line coming up.” Blaze is also capitalizing on its fresh, house-made dough, a differ- entiator for the brand since it began back in 2011. “We thought we could take our great dough and make a great dessert,” said Kuhn. Earlier this year, the fast casual rolled out its first oven-baked dessert: Cinna- mon Bread. That same dough launched a whole new menu category, Fast Fire’d Folds, a product inspired by Italian calzones and strombolis. The first entry in the category is the Spicy Pepperoni Fast Fire’d Fold, a handheld “envelope” filled with mozzarella, ricotta, Parmesan, ja- lapenos and pepperoni, baked until golden, then enhanced with one of the drizzles and served with cups of house-made red sauce for dipping. “We are testing out four to five additional variations for Folds,” said Kuhn, adding that Blaze’s ver- satile pizza dough can be the start- ing point for a number of line exten-
sions, including sandwiches. Cheesy Bread, which launched as a side in 2020, was one of the first line extensions. This summer, it morphed into Spicy Cheesy Bread with the simple addition of a Spicy Chili Oil drizzle over the melted cheese as soon as it comes out of the oven. Also making its menu debut this summer was the Spicy Meatball Bowl. Earlier in the year, Blaze in- troduced Fast Fire’d Meatballs as a protein option, but the entrée bowl includes three pork-beef blend meatballs simmered in house-made red sauce and served with a dollop of ricotta cheese and topping of spicy pickled jalapenos. Although Blaze declined to re- veal traffic figures, the new items are driving loyalty, with member- ship numbers ticking up along with the menu additions, said Kuhn. The ratio of signature pizza orders is also climbing, he added, indicating that innovation in that category is attracting customers. MANAGING THE PANTRY One of Blaze’s primary goals was to keep new SKUs to a minimum as the menu overhaul continued. “We can’t add a lot of new costs or ingre- dients for our franchisees, as they have to be really smart with their
pennies,” said Kuhn. “We’re us- ing products that already exist but changing them slightly by cross-uti- lizing when possible.” The Drizzles, for example, are a simple enhance- ment that bring innovation at a low cost without increasing complexity. Taco Bell, on the other hand, has the leeway to bring in lots of new in- gredients to keep up with the trends, said Restrepo. “We’re extending our pantry more than ever before to pick up the pace of innovation,” he said. “We’re continually bringing in new products so consumers can try new things and get excited.” Wendy’s follows different inven- tory guidelines in the United States vs. internationally, said Li. “Inter- nationally, we have to cross-utilize as much as possible. In the U.S. we can add many more new SKUs to accomplish our innovation goals, but we have to balance that with complexity.” All three operators agree that menu innovation cannot negatively impact operations or supply chain. For Li, that sometimes means re- moving something from the pantry when he brings in something new, or even changing a package size to reduce complexity. But in the end, “if it benefits the fan, we’ll bring it in,” he said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLAZE
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OCTOBER 2024 RESTAURANT BUSINESS
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