Fast-food chains have their limitations. Wendy's, McDonald's, and Burger King all have only so much space in their kitchens which limits their ability to add new menu items.
All three chains, for example, have never claimed to offer vegan, or even vegetarian burger options because their limited grill space makes it impossible to guarantee that there won't be cross-contamination. Even when McDonald's (MCD) -) briefly sold the McPlant, a plant-based burger, it could not make that claim.
Burger King is very careful in how it describes its own Impossible Whopper, which uses a plant-based patty as well.
"The Impossible Whopper patty is 0% beef. It is made without any ingredients from animal sources but is still cooked on the same broiler that makes the beef Whopper patties," the chain shared on its website.
All three chains only have so much surface on their grills/broilers and so many deep fryers. That's why many of their innovations and limited-time offers (LTOs) involve adding ingredients to existing products.
Creating a BBQ burger or one with a different sauce and/or cheese does not require more equipment. Adding a new pork sandwich or meatball sliders to the menu does.
Every decision made by McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King to add something new that involves using its various cooking devices requires freeing up time and space to make the new item. That's especially felt with Wendy's (WEN) -) Frosty.
Each Wendy's restaurant has the ability to produce two Frosty flavors at a time (and no more). Since the chain never takes its classic Chocolate Frosty off the menu, adding a seasonal flavor means replacing another special flavor or not offering vanilla.
In this case, the chain is saying a long goodbye to the Pumpkin Spice Frosty before it replaces it next month with the Peppermint Frosty.
Image source: Wendy's
Wendy's changing Frosty flavors
Until 2006, Wendy's, at least in the United States, only offered the classic Chocolate Frosty. In that year, the company added vanilla. To do that, it had to add a second Frosty machine to its stores.
Those two flavors were the only choices until the summer of 2022 when Wendy's replaced Vanilla with Strawberry. Since then, the fast-food chain has occasionally offered seasonal flavors instead of the Vanilla Frosty.
One of those flavors, the Peppermint Frosty, will return on Nov. 14, the Snackolator Instagram page reported. Snackolator, who often breaks fast food news, does hope the chain makes some recipe changes.
"This was out last year and I thought it was quite tasty although not quite as minty as I'd like — hopefully this year they take the flavor up just a notch," he said.
Wendy's menu leans on Frosty, LTOs
Wendy's has been successful with its Frosty and other LTOs. The company doesn't have a lot of special items, but it tries to make the ones it does add count. CEO Todd Penegor spoke about their impact during the chain's second-quarter earnings call.
"The launch of the Ghost Pepper Ranch Chicken Sandwich and the return of Strawberry Frosty alongside continued profitable value with our Biggie Bag lineup contributed to our second quarter growth," he said. "We will continue utilizing our ownable platforms like Made To Crave, Biggie, and Frosty to break through with our customers in new ways across the rest of the year."
Leveraging the Frosty brand is a key part of that strategy.
"We expect to continue building on this momentum with our recently launched Frosty Cream Cold Brew, additional menu innovation launching soon, and more consistent promotional activity to drive trial and repeat," he added.
The Frosty Cream Cold Brew is a coffee product that uses Frosty mix, not a flavor of the dessert treat.
