A value menu (not to be confused with a value meal) is a group of menu items at a fast food restaurant that are designed to be the least expensive items available. In the US, the items are usually priced between $0.99 and $2.99. The portion size, and number of items included with the food, are typically related to the price.
Arby's announced the launch of their value menu on April 9, 2010. [1] Items on the value menu vary based on location, but typically include small or value size roast beef sandwiches, curly fries, milkshakes, chicken sandwiches, ham and cheddar sandwiches, and turnovers. [2]
Burger King added a value menu in 1998 with items priced at 99¢ (USD), [3] equivalent to $1.85in 2023. In 2002 [4] and 2006, BK revamped its value menu, adding and removing products at 99¢, and later increasing some prices to $1.39. [5] Many of these items have since been discontinued, modified or relegated to a regional menu option. [6] The Burger King Whopper was the very first 99 cent burger and it revolutionized the 99 cent menu in the fast food industry. [7]
After numerous attempts beginning in 1991, [8] experimenting with a variety of menus and pricing strategies, [9] McDonald's launched its first national value menu, the Dollar Menu, in late 2002 in the United States. [10]
A new value menu was rolled out at McDonald's on January 4, 2018 in the United States. It featured a dozen items at various price points: $1, $2 and $3, with four items per price point. [11] Originally, this menu no longer featured fries, which was criticized by Good Mythical Morning along with only a few items at the $1 price point. [12] In Canada, fries are available for CA$2.49 on the McPicks menu. [13]
On May 13, 2024, news outlets have reported that McDonald's plans to launch a $5 value meal in the United States. The meal will reportedly include a sandwich (McDouble or McChicken), a small fries and a small soft drink. [14] In Canada, a similar meal is available for CA$5.79. [13]
| McDonald's Dollar Menu (United States) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price point | Items | |||
| $1 | Cheeseburger | McChicken | Sausage Burrito | Soft Drink |
| $2 | Bacon McDouble | Buttermilk Crispy Tenders (x2) | Sausage McGriddles | Small McCafé |
| $3 | Triple Cheeseburger | Classic Chicken Sandwich | Sausage McMuffin with Egg | Happy Meal |
| McDonald's Summer Value Menu 2024 (Canada) [15] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price point | Items | |||
| $1 | Small Soft Drink | Small Iced Coffee | Vanilla Cone | |
| $2 | Small Fruit Splash | Snack Size Milkshake | Snack Size Grimace Shake | Sundae |
| $3 | Small Fruit Smoothie | Small Frappe | Small Cold Brew | Large Fruit Splash |
Subway offered a $4.99 footlong menu in the United States. The promotion began in 2004 as a $5 footlong menu (equivalent to $8.07in 2023).
In 1988, Taco Bell lowered the prices of all new items and launched the first three-tiered pricing strategy and free drink refills. [16] In 2010, Taco Bell introduced the $2 Meal Deals menu, featuring a menu item (i.e., a chicken burrito, a beefy 5-layer burrito, a double decker taco, or a Gordita supreme), a bag of Doritos, and a medium drink. [17] On August 18, 2014, Taco Bell launched a new value menu called Dollar Cravings that included eleven food items each priced a $1. [18] [19] [20] [21]
On December 15, 2017, Taco Bell launched an advertising campaign called "The Belluminati" to advertise its Dollar Cravings menu. [22]
Wendy's is generally credited with being the first fast food chain to offer a value menu in October 1989, with every item priced at $0.99 (equivalent to $2.43in 2023). [23] [24] [25] However, the general price for value menu items is now around $1.55.
Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, novelty, and speciality items, and a variety of "value menu" items. As of 2023, Taco Bell serves over two billion customers each year, at 8,212 restaurants, more than 94 percent of which are owned and operated by independent franchisees and licensees.
Subway IP LLC, doing business as Subway, is an American multinational fast food restaurant franchise that specializes in submarine sandwiches (subs) and wraps. It was founded by Fred DeLuca and financed by Peter Buck in 1965 as Pete's Super Submarines in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After several name changes, it was renamed Subway in 1972, and a franchise operation began in 1974 with a second restaurant in Wallingford, Connecticut. It has expanded to become a global franchise.
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.
Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants. The flagship property of Inspire Brands, it ranked third in systemwide sales in the United States in the quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industries in 2012, behind Subway and Panera Bread. In October 2017, Food & Wine called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain ".
The McChicken is a chicken sandwich sold by the international fast food restaurant McDonald's. In some countries, such as Australia, Fiji, India, New Zealand, and the UK, it is considered to be a chicken burger, especially given it is not a sandwich as that word is understood in some of those non-American varieties of English. It consists of a toasted wheat bun, a breaded patty, shredded lettuce and mayonnaise.
The Big King sandwich is one of the major hamburger products sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King, and was part of its menu for more than twenty years. As of March 2019, it is sold in the United States under its 1997 Big King XL formulation. During its testing phase in 1996–1997, it was originally called the Double Supreme and was configured similarly to the McDonald's Big Mac—including a three-piece roll. It was later reformulated as a more standard double burger during the latter part of product testing in 1997. It was given its current name when the product was formally introduced in September 1997, but maintained the more conventional double cheeseburger format.
The Burger King Specialty Sandwiches are a line of sandwiches developed by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King in 1978 and introduced in 1979 as part of a new product line designed to expand Burger King's menu with more sophisticated, adult oriented fare beyond hamburgers. Additionally, the new line was intended to differentiate the company from other fast food hamburger restaurants at the time. Since the line's introduction, the other sandwiches have been discontinued, leaving the chicken offering, the Original Chicken Sandwich, as the primary product left. Additionally, other sandwiches that utilize the same roll as the chicken sandwich have been introduced to the company's menu both domestically and internationally since the original product line was introduced.
As far back as the 1970s, international fast food restaurant chain Burger King has attempted to introduce a premium line of burgers. These sandwiches are part of a system which eventually became known as the barbell strategy; a plan designed to expand Burger King's menu with both more sophisticated, adult-oriented fare along with products that are more value-oriented. This program is intended to bring in a larger, more affluent adult audience who will be willing to spend more on the better quality products on one side while maintaining a lower cost value menu dedicated to a more cost-conscious audience on the other. The hope is that the customers would be drawn in initially for the lower prices of the value-menu and upgrade to the more expensive products, upping overall sales.
When the predecessor of international fast food restaurant chain Burger King (BK) first opened in 1953, its menu predominantly consisted of hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. After being acquired by its Miami, Florida franchisees and renamed in 1954, BK began expanding its menu by adding the Whopper sandwich in 1957, and has since added non-beef items such as chicken, fish, and vegetarian offerings, including salads and meatless sandwiches. Other additions include a breakfast menu and beverages such as Icees, juices, and bottled waters. As the company expanded both inside and outside the United States, it introduced localized versions of its products that conform to regional tastes and cultural or religious beliefs. To generate additional sales, BK occasionally introduces limited-time offers of special versions of its products, or brings out completely new products intended for either long- or short-term sales. Not all of these products and services have been successful; in 1992, Burger King introduced limited table service featuring special dinner platters, but this concept failed to generate interest and was discontinued.
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. McDonald's traces its origins to a 1940 restaurant in San Bernardino, California. After expanding within the United States, McDonald's became an international corporation in 1967, when it opened a location in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. By the end of the 1970s, McDonald's restaurants existed in five of the Earth's seven continents; an African location came in 1992 in Casablanca, Morocco.
Burger King Dinner Baskets were a series of products introduced in 1993 by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. The products were designed to add appeal to families and customers looking for a "higher class" meal found in family style restaurants.
Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the world's third-largest hamburger fast-food chain with 6,711 locations, following Burger King and McDonald's. On September 29, 2008, the company merged with Triarc Companies Inc., the publicly traded parent company of Arby's; Wendy's headquarters remained in Dublin. Triarc then became known as Wendy's/Arby's Group, and later as the Wendy's Company following the sale of Arby's to Roark Capital Group.
The Burger wars are a series of off-and-on comparative advertising campaigns consisting of mutually-targeted advertisements that highlight the intense competition between hamburger fast food chains McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and others in the United States. The term first came into use during the late 1970s due to an attempt by Burger King to generate increased market and mind-share by attacking the size of bigger rival McDonald's hamburgers.
The fast-food restaurant chain Burger King was the first major fast food chain to introduce a grilled chicken sandwich to the marketplace, in 1990, six months before Wendy's and four years before McDonald's. Since then, Burger King, and its Australian franchise Hungry Jack's have offered a variety of grilled chicken sandwiches, as have Wendy's and McDonald's.
Dollar Cravings is the value menu of American fast-food restaurant Taco Bell. Dollar Cravings was launched August 18, 2014 in reaction to the new McDonald's and Wendy's value/dollar menus. The current menu contains 13 food items. Dollar Cravings replaced Taco Bell's previous value menu Why Pay More. A Taco Bell spokesperson said few of the food items from the Why Pay More menu will remain in Dollar Cravings.
Mac n' Cheetos are a deep-fried macaroni and cheese product based on the Frito-Lay snack Cheetos. Mac n' Cheetos were introduced in late June 2016 and sold at Burger King in limited supplies. The original product contained five pieces and was served with a side of ranch dressing. Today, Mac n' Cheetos are available frozen at grocery stores around the United States.
The chicken sandwich wars is a marketing trend in the United States during which a great number of American quick serve restaurant chains introduced fried chicken sandwiches to their menus. The phenomenon began in 2019 when Popeyes and Chick-fil-A disputed which of them was first to serve such an item. Over 20 American fast food brands added fried chicken sandwiches to their menus during the next two years.
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