RISE - Menu Monitor

Menu Positioning |
Cracker Barrel's homestyle American menu offers breakfast, lunch and dinner featuring traditional breakfast selections, steaks,
ribs, chicken, fish, beef, hamburgers and sandwiches, vegetable plates, numerous sides, soups, desserts and beverages.
Signature items include combination platters such as Meatloaf Dinner, Roast Turkey, Chicken N’ Dumplings, Country Fried
Shrimp Platter and Beef Stew with Cornbread. Other entrées include Fish Fry, BLT Salad, Fried Chicken Tenderloin Salad,
Chicken Fiesta Salad, Open-Faced Roast Beef and Half Pound Bacon Cheeseburger. Side items include macaroni & cheese,
applesauce and onion rings, as well as vegetables, including corn, pinto beans, green beans, collard greens and potatoes in
various preparations. Entrées are served with cornbread muffins and biscuits. The breakfast menu (available all day) offers
eggs, pancakes, bacon, country ham, grits and made-from-scratch biscuits. Breakfast options typically combine eggs with
pancakes, met and sides, and include the Sunrise Sampler, Uncle Herschel’s Favorite, Gravy N’ Biscuits, Momma’s French
Toast Breakfast, Wild Maine Blueberry Pancakes and Hash Browns with Fried Apples & Biscuit. Desserts include sundaes,
pies, fruit cobblers and Chocolate Cobbler with Pecans & Ice Cream. A kids’ menu is available, featuring burgers, macaroni &
cheese and kid-sized sundaes. Beverages include sweetened and unsweetened iced tea, coffee, hot tea, hot chocolate, milk,
soft drinks, milkshakes, lemonades and juice. Menu prices range from $1.89–$8.49 for breakfast items and $2.59–$12.99 for
lunch and dinner items. Checks average $6.75.
Promotion Plans |
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is rolling out a new marketing initiative featuring its first TV campaign in over 10 years, a
return to radio advertising, and billboards. The company wants to attract local customers and also be seen as a dining
destination for travelers. The chain is developing 30- and 60- second TV spots to air later this year. The radio campaign will air
in 38 markets over the next six months. Several of the billboards feature photos of foods such as pancakes, biscuits, wholekernel
corn, sweet baby carrots and green beans along with the tagline “Comin’ right up.” Cracker Barrel is also trying to
position itself as a retail outlet by advertising its exclusive country-music CDs on select billboards. The chain plans to have the
billboards in place by March. (Nation’s Restaurant News 12/18/06 p16)
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is airing TV commercials for the first time in nine years. The TV campaign, titled “The Front
Porch,” promotes Cracker Barrel’s 565-unit chain as a place where diners and neighbors can reconnect. Commercials are
playing in six markets: Greensville/Spartanburg, SC; Lexington, KY; Louisville, KY; Jacksonville/Brunswick, FL; Nashville, TN;
and Indianapolis. Since its last TV advertising campaign in 1998, Cracker Barrel has relied on nearly 1,500 highway billboards
to attract local customers and travelers. (Nation’s Restaurant News Online 10/22/07)
Menu Development |
Cracker Barrel plans to eliminate artificial trans fat from all menu items by mid-2008. The family-dining chain has been
experimenting with recipes since late last year in preparation for the change. Cracker Barrel is a wholly owned subsidiary of
CBRL Group Inc. and has 558 units in 41 states. (Nation’s Restaurant News 6/4/07 p3)
Cracker Barrel is planning to roll out new menus in all of its restaurants in April. New items, including turkey and dressing,
baked chicken and sausage chili, are currently testing in 30 stores. The move comes on the heels of a weak fiscal first quarter,
reported by parent company CBRL Group November 28. Cracker Barrel says the new menu launch is part of an attempt to
provide quicker service and win customer loyalty. (Tennessean.com 11/29/07)
Personnel |
Nelson Griffin, V.P. of Product Development
Michael Woodhouse, CEO
Lawrence White, CFO
Nelson Griffin, V.P. of Purchasing
Terry Maxwell, V.P. of Operations
Simon Turner, V.P. of Marketing
News & Other |
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store reported October same-store sales rose 1.9%. (NRN Daily NewsFax 11/1/06)
©Technomic Information Services 2007, CIS profiles may not be copied or distributed in any print or electronic format without a license or written consent.
Technomic believes that its sources of information are reliable, but does not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information
published.
205