RISE - Menu Monitor

Taco Bell is reintroducing its restaurants to Mexico after a 15-year hiatus. However, the Americanized version of Mexican food
may be a hard sell in Mexico. Taco Bell left the country after a failed attempt in Mexico City in 1992. The chain is distancing its
offerings from traditional Mexican cuisine, including renaming Taco Bell’s taco as a “tacostada,” a word it invented to link its
crunchy, folded taco, different from the traditional Mexican soft taco, to the tostada, which is served with a flat, fried corn
tortilla. Taco Bell introduced a new slogan, “It’s Something Else,” to convey the message to Mexicans that this is not their
traditional taco. (Signonsandiego.com 10/10/07)
Technology |
Taco Bell plans to roll out a test of contactless payment devices to 100 outlets by the fourth quarter. The chain may eventually
add the devices to its 1,300 company and franchised restaurants. The technology allows customers to use MasterCard
PayPass, Visa Contactless cards and other chip-embedded keychain fobs. Several other chains and c-stores already have the
technology, including McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, 7-Eleven, Sheetz and Wawa. (Nation’s Restaurant News Online 3/14/07;
Company Release 3/19/07)
Personnel |
David Ovens, Chief Marketing Officer
Mike Tattersfield, COO/President
David C. Novak, CEO
Rick Carucci, CFO
Leah Evans, Chief Food Innovation Officer
Taco Bell Corp. named David Ovens Chief Marketing Officer, effective August 6. Previously, Ovens served as Chief Marketing
Officer for Yum! Restaurants International. Ovens will replace Bill Pearce, who is leaving to start a venture in medical
technology. (Company Release 5/4/07)
News & Other |
Taco Bell Corp. has closed five locations in New York and New Jersey due to an E. coli outbreak in mid-November. The
company is sanitizing and replacing ingredients after 35 cases had been reported. (NRN Daily NewsFax 12/5/06)
Taco Bell is reopening all of its voluntarily closed units in New Jersey and on Long Island, NY, after its E. coli outbreak.
Authorities are investigating McLane Food Service, Taco Bell’s distributor. (NRN Daily NewsFax 12/6/06)
Taco Bell has switched to a new supplier and is now deeming its food safe after an E. coli scare. There have been no new
illnesses reported since December 2. (Company Release 12/11/06)
Taco Bell Corp. reported that the “most probable” cause of the E. coli outbreak was packaged lettuce. (NRN Daily NewsFax
12/14/06)
Taco Bell removed green onions from its domestic and Canadian menus because of a recent E. coli breakout at several units
in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Taco Bell conducted preliminary tests on samples of scallions from the
restaurants and announced that it found a potentially lethal form of E. coli. The chain later discovered that lettuce was the
“most probable” cause of the E. coli outbreak based on a combination of statistical analysis and process of elimination. Taco
Bell was recently given a clean bill of health from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (NRN Daily NewsFax
12/07/06, 12/11/06, 12/14/06, 12/18/06; The Chronicle Herald 12/08/06; Forbes.com 12/11/06; AFX International 12/14/06)
Taco Bell Corp. has been given a clean bill of health from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after its recent
E. coli outbreak. The chain is looking to work with competitors, suppliers and regulators to set standards for safeguarding the
restaurant supply chain. (NRN Daily NewsFax 12/18/06)
Yum! Brand Inc. anticipates opening several KFC-Taco Bell co-branded outlets in 500 small communities nationwide. The
company is developing 30 co-branded locations to open in rural Indiana Kentucky as well as in the North Pole, AK, and
Keystone, FL. There are more than 3,000 Yum! multi-branded restaurants worldwide. (The Courier Journal 12/25/06)
Taco Bell is planning to conduct on-the-farm testing of lettuce after an E. coli outbreak last fall. The chain believes that this
move will help improve product safety. Taco Bell lost $20 million in operating profit because of an E. coli outbreak. (The Dallas
Morning News 2/14/07)
©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
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