Nobody apparently told Taco Bell that this is a tough environment for fast-food chains.
The quick-service Mexican brand’s same-store sales in the first quarter are expected to grow 8%, the company said during a presentation for investors and media on Tuesday.
The sales growth stands out in a sea of warnings about the consumer environment in recent weeks, particularly from fast-food chains.
“I read what you guys write,” Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant said. “There’s snow in in the Midwest. I hear the consumer is stressed out there. I know there’s a lot of things going on. But we are growth committed, and results matter.”
The results, which helped send parent company Yum Brands’ stock up 1.5% Tuesday morning despite an otherwise difficult day on Wall Street, continue Taco Bell’s consistent, 14-year performance streak. The chain has had only two quarters of negative same-store sales since 2011, and one of those was during the pandemic.
The chain is planning a lot more of that. Taco Bell on Tuesday said that it expects to grow average unit volumes to $3 million by 2030, from $2.2 million this year.
It expects to do this in part by bolstering innovation. It expects to introduce twice as many new menu items this year as it did in 2024, for instance. “Innovation is a huge part of driving brand buzz,” Taco Bell CMO Taylor Montgomery said.
Two items that have been on the menu in the past—Nacho Fries and Crispy Chicken—will be part of that more aggressive calendar. Fries alone are good for transactions and average check and are now part of the permanent menu. So is Crispy Chicken, the chain’s chicken nuggets competitor, which will be on the menu for 21 weeks this year.
That product sold out within two weeks in December and during that period sales of the Nacho Fries grew 20%, said CFO Neil Manhas.
Taco Bell is also making a big push on beverages, following the successful debut of its Live Mas Café in San Diego, featuring items like the Pineapple Lime Energy Refresca or the Mexican Chocolate Churro Chiller. The company expects beverage sales to reach $5 billion by 2030.
The company also plans to build its Cantina Chicken menu into a $5 billion brand by that same year.
That’s a key move for a chain that has thrived in part with a strong value offering. Taco Bell believes the menu can help it compete more directly with fast-casual chains. “We want to get consumers to think about us in a different way,” Montgomery said.
Taco Bell’s value focus and its innovation have not hurt the company’s profitability. Taco Bell’s company restaurant margins were 24.3% in 2024, the company said. Executives believe that growing average unit volumes to $3 million will grow those margins by a point or two.
Digital sales have been big for the chain. Digital sales, which did not exist a decade ago, grew 32% last year and now account for 35% of Taco Bell’s sales, or about $6 billion. The company wants that percentage to get to 60% by 2030.
Stores that do more digital sales generate higher profits, company executives said.
Taco Bell also set plans for international growth. The chain has grown more slowly outside the U.S. than sister concepts KFC and Pizza Hut have. But the company hopes to speed that growth in the coming years by more than doubling international unit count over the next five years, to 3,000 by 2030.
The company plans to accelerate growth in existing markets such as the U.K., Spain, Australia and India. But it also plans to enter new countries such as France, Greece and South Africa.
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