“With delivery and to-go orders soaring during the pandemic, marketing “crisp” is risky if the food arrives at consumers’ homes limp and listless.“
The following written content by Siddharth Cavale and Hilary Russ
(Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp rolled out its new Crispy Chicken Sandwich in February. Wendy’s Co is selling Crispy Chicken Nuggets. And chains like Shake Shack Inc are known for having some of the fast-food industry’s crispiest french fries.
With delivery and to-go orders soaring during the pandemic, marketing “crisp” is risky if the food arrives at consumers’ homes limp and listless. In a quest to keep the crunch as long as possible, many chains are tweaking their recipes, trying different additives, formulations, cooking techniques and temperatures.
Delivery orders at U.S. restaurants were 154% higher in January 2021 than they were a year earlier, according to data analytics firm The NPD Group/CREST.
Delivery comprised 12% of all restaurant orders in January 2021, versus just 5% a year prior. A chicken-fingers-and-fries combo was the top food item ordered for delivery in 2020 by third-party delivery service DoorDash Inc.
But crispier food can cost more. A 30-pound box of the cheapest french-fries can run about $12 to $15 wholesale to restaurants, according to Barry Friends, a partner at food industry consultant Pentallect. Top tier fries made with drier, higher-quality potatoes and sealants can run up to $45 a box.
White Castle, with roughly 375 locations, is “testing a different fry to see if we can get something that does hold up longer, stays crispier,” Chief Operations Officer Jeff Carper told Reuters. Starting late last year, the chain tested a new fry which costs more than its current fries, at about 60 locations through New York and New Jersey, he said.
One McDonald’s franchisee told Reuters its fries stay fresh about seven minutes after coming out of the fryer. “We have a lot of work to do here” to make food that travels better, the franchisee said. “Delivery business is growing leaps and bounds.” Read more from US News & World Report
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