Can a new menu at Burger King put the fast-food giant back in the number two spot? Burger King, which was founded in 1954, sat comfortably in the number two spot in terms of best-selling national burger chains for about 40 years, from at least 1972 until last year, when Wendy's moved into the penultimate spot under fast-food behemoth McDonald's.
Burger King announced a slate of new menu items that may help to mitigate its recent bad news. Research from Technomic, reported CNN in March, showed that Burger King's 2011 sales totaled $8.4 billion, while Wendy's edged it out at $8.5 billion. Neither comes close to McDonald's, however, which dominated the burger subset, not to mention the entire restaurant chain category, at $34 billion. (Subway was number two overall).
The new menu items at Burger King include: Garden Fresh Salads(BLT, Apple and Cranberry, or classic Caesar Salad, which can be topped with chicken); Chicken Snack Wraps (Honey Mustard Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap and the Ranch Crispy Chicken Snack Wrap); Real Fruit Smoothies (Tropical Mango and Strawberry Banana smoothies); Frappés (Mocha and Caramel); and Crispy Chicken Strips ("made with white meat tenderloin chicken, marinated and lightly battered in seasoned home-style breading"; also new to the Burger King Menu are Kung Pao and Roasted Jalapeño Barbecue sauces).
These items all have direct analogs on McDonald's menu innovations from the past few years, notably the snack wrap concept, the beverages (which McDonald's has version of in its McCafe concept), and the chicken (an answer to McDonald's Chicken Selects).
Burger King has about 7,200 locations nationwide.
