Low-carb craze stirs up quick-service feeding frenzy

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 16, 2004 by Amy Garber

Although some operators are bullish about low-carb menu offerings, at least one observer insists they are unlikely to become large sales builders for traditional hamburger chains.

"I think [low carbohydrate] will stay around, but I'm not sure it will be explosive, primarily for the burger boys," says Jerry McVety, a restaurant consultant and president of McVety & Associates in Farmington Hills, Mich. He views low-carb offerings as a strategy for "holding market share rather than getting a huge gain."

McVety reminds quick-service operators extending their menus not to forget about core customers--who, he says, go to McDonald's for the Big Mac, Burger King for the Whopper and Wendy's for the Double Cheeseburger.

Low carb "won't be a main part of their business," McVety predicts. Still, he says he doesn't "see any reason not to jump in," especially for those chains that can feature low-carb offerings by modifying their existing menus--for example, serving bunless burgers--instead of launching new products.

Industry consultant Len Kornblau, who is based in Marlton, N.J., views the proliferation of low-carbohydrate menu items as a "knee-jerk reaction to the obesity lawsuits [from 2002]. Even though they were thrown out of court, they still made a lot of customers and chains realize that there is a problem in this country with weight." Kornblau says low-carb diets are a fad, and he warns that selling sandwiches without buns will cannibalize traditional menu offerings.

"I can't imagine any chain would take bunless burgers seriously for any period of time," he says. "They might try it for a while, but you can bet the farm that it isn't going to last. Bunless burgers are a tactic that I don't see as having legs. To me, salads are more strategic. They help round out the menu and increase appeal to all customers."

After McDonald's unveiled a line of entree salads last year at its 13,000-plus U.S. units, the chain's domestic same-store sales--which had been negative--began to soar, ending the year up, in double digits. McDonald's recently announced it would start later this year featuring the salads as part of an adult Happy Meal, which the chain tested last year.

Smaller chains also are turning to greens as a way to build sales. D'Angelo Sandwich Shops is preparing for a spring launch of two low-carb salads, including a $5.79 Turkey Tips Caesar Salad and a $5.99 Steak Tips Caesar Salad.

"To be competitive, we need to have a part of our menu offering that responds to the current dietary lifestyle trends," says Lew Shaye, senior vice president of brand development for D'Angelo's and Papa Gino's. "That's not to say we jump at every turn consumers' desires take and rush to reposition our offering or assign any of our R&D budget to developing menu additions or revisions.

"Before we make a significant adjustment," Shaye adds, "we want to see evidence of that groundswell--in other words, strong indication that the trend has taken root, or is likely to, and has a good chance of influencing purchase behaviors for some time. You can spend a lot of money developing menu additions to meet current demand only to find that by the time you bring them to market, the rage has subsided."