Wendy's Pretzel Burger to Change the Game for Fast Food Chain?

By Justin Sarachik, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, May 30, 2013

The Wendy's Pretzel Burger may be coming to a fast food chain near you as this experimental sandwich is creating a big buzz.

Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Cheese Burger could be unveiled by the end of the summer, but it still is not certain, according to USA Today.

"Our industry sources inform us that the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger, to be launched nationally at some point during 2013, was one of Wendy's most successful test products from the last 20 years," analyst Mark Kalinowski wrote reports WebProNews. "As such, we believe the national launch will lead to some meaningful acceleration in Wendy's same-store sales."

Critics feel the pretzel burger could become quite popular because of recent trends in the fast food industry, especially since the bun is just as soft as normal bread, tricking the eater's taste buds.

Mark Brandau, the senior editor at Nation's Restaurant News, feels anything pretzel related will be a success because of the great responses in casual dining restaurants. Fast food establishments are the next step for the pretzel.

"This could be a very, very big deal," said professor of hospitality at Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration Christopher Muller. "I don't know why, but there's nothing else on the market quite like it."

Blimpies had a line of pretzel bread subs last year, and pretzel rolls are already very popular in Europe reports USA Today.

On May 24 of this year, the new Wendy's burger was a top promotional seller in Miami, Florida, noted Kalinowski of Janney Capital Markets.

Wendy's is focusing on premium breads as they also tested out a flatbread grilled chicken sandwich.

One of the biggest concerns for the new burger is value pricing. The pretzel burger is most likely going to be premium priced as a specialty item, according to The Asbury Press.

"It's hard to imagine that a new bun is going to make a huge impact given what Wendy's, McDonald's and Burger King all spend on advertising," Darren Tristano, executive VP of Technomic, Inc. told WebProNews. "This fits with Wendy's positioning, but it would take a huge amount of pretzel burgers to affect their stock price significantly."

"Wendy's hasn't had a new product like this in forever," said Muller.