Taco Bell exec reveals chain is expanding drinks options – and why South Korea is so important

TACO BELL is known for its delicious Mexican food where diners have lots of hot and spicy options to choose from.

But a company executive says the future of Taco Bell and other popular brands could be ice cold.

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Major fast food chains are catering to Gen Z with trendy new beverages.[/caption]

Fast food chains have been experimenting with a new wave of iced coffee, bubble teas, lemonades, refreshers and milkshakes in select areas.

Ken Muench, chief marketing officer of Yum Brands –  which operates Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut – says these drinks are the future. 

The conglomerate backs a special 35-person company called Collider. 

These brainiacs look at big data, consumer trends, generational preferences, and even betting statistics across the globe to predict the next big drink.  

“Our entire job is to look at where culture is going, look at where consumers are headed and then inform the brands,” Muench told Restaurant Dive. 

“And we do that years ahead of time,” he added. 

The team predicts innovative iced coffee treats are going to be among the hot new trends.

“Whether it’s cold coffee, cold brew, varieties of coffee with bubbles in it, with inclusions in it, with a cream top, a foam top, all that sort of stuff, is a super interesting area that was never open to QSRs before,” Muench said to the trade publication.

QSR is industry lingo for fast food joints.

And for Taco Bell, it’s testing the waters with its Churros Chillers and Coffee Chillers.

But would you have it with your crunchwrap supreme? 

Probably not. And the big wigs don’t really care.

“‘Come for the beverage, stay for the chicken,’ is the mantra,” KFC Chief Marketing Officer Val Kubizniak told Restaurant Dive. 

But industry leaders also say the big pivot toward specialty drinks is being led by Gen Z. 

THIRSTY?

Fast food executives say the younger generation is eagerly looking for colorful, sugary and highly-caffeinated beverages with add-ons like bubbles and fruit chunks. 

Industry insiders recognize Gen Z as the most diverse and open to new flavors.

“Our premium craft lemonades are also incredibly loved by our customers, and this product over-indexes with Hispanic consumers and Gen Z,” Wendy’s U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Lindsay Radkoski said at a recent investor event.

And fast food chains are responding to the demand.

INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE

To stay trendy with Gen Z, the Colonel recently dropped KWENCH by KFC in the U.K. and Australia.  

The lineup includes lattes and creamy drinks.

“For the next generation, you are what you drink,” Adam Evans Pringle, head of art at KWENCH brand developer Mother Family, said to Little Black Book. 

“Drinks are no longer merely functional but status symbols, social capital and identity builders.”

“In recognition of this, we stopped thinking of KWENCH as merely a functional product and instead set out to make it the ultimate accessory,” he added.

And Yum Brands has its pulse on a global scale. 

“Basically, if it’s catching on in South Korea, it’s going to catch on anywhere in the world. That’s the shorthand,” Muench said to Restaurant Dive.

He adds that South Korea is a place where consumers compete to be trendy.

He noted that beverage trends often start in high-end markets outside the U.S.

Yum gathers drink ideas from these areas. Then, Collider hosts innovative sessions with brands.

These can result in up to 150 ideas.

But only a few make the cut.