Consumers are more adventurous than ever with their palates and the restaurant industry has responded in earnest with a record number of limited-time offers for the past several years.
In fact, LTOs have increased 157% since 2019, when there were 16,187 new launches, according to Technomic data. In 2025, that number grew to 41,707 and this year’s LTO projection is just under 43,000. Eighty-five percent of operators added or changed the food or beverages offered on their menu in the last year.
In the featured session, “Driving Demand With LTOs,” Monday at the National Restaurant Association Show, Technomic’s Managing Principal Joe Pawlak said operators are very active in innovation today, whether adding a new menu item, an LTO, or a “new twist on an old favorite.”
“There are a lot of different ways we can do innovation in our menu, and limited-time offers are just a vehicle to get those products onto the menu,” he said. “(With) LTOs, we're enhancing, we're elevating, we're adding an innovative element to drive interest in our menu and our operations to differentiate or even break through to consumers and that may be our current customers or even to new customers.”
Most LTOs launched in 2025 were in the cold/non-alcoholic beverage category, followed by specialty drinks and ice cream.
“These are very high-margin opportunities for the operator, so there is not only interest from an operator, but we know that consumers are reacting positively,” Pawlak said.
Sandwiches/wraps was also a prolific category last year, with just less than 2,000 launches. This was followed by burgers (1,444), chicken dishes (1,393) and pizza (1,283). Pawlak said the innovation happening in these categories brings new news to popular categories and comfort food and operators are doing this through new sauces, toppings and bases.
The main objective operators should have in place before creating an LTO is to gain attention and stir excitement to drive sales and traffic. Operators can also use LTOs as a test to learn if it is popular enough to earn a permanent spot on the menu, to appeal to a niche audience, or fill a gap on the menu.
Whatever the objective, Pawlak said the juice is usually worth the squeeze, as checks with LTOs are 26% higher than those without an LTO.
“A lot of consumers are going into the restaurants for those limited-time offers, but also adding extras to that as well and spending more,” Pawlak said.
Despite the tailwind, not many LTOs earn permanent status. Just over half of operators have added an LTO as a permanent item, while 24% said about half of them earn such status. That’s because many such innovations feature seasonal ingredients or are launched as a holiday promotion. Operators also want to repeat the launch annually to drive new news regularly. Pawlak said such scarcity can drive more success.
“We need to think about increasing frequency. If it was successful, why not repeat it more than once? Scarcity in the consumers’ mind can be every six or seven months, or five or six months, so you can increase the number of times you put it on menu,” he said, pointing to the McRib as an example.
Whatever the tactic, it’s important for operators to remember that not only are higher check sizes and frequency from LTOs important for the business, but they’re also more appealing for consumers today. In 2022, 48% of consumers said such launches were important. That number has since jumped to 56% and skews higher for Millennials and Gen Z, as well as higher-income consumers.
“So why do we need to think about LTOs? To increase incidents and because of the importance for consumers. There’s the higher average check and you’re bringing in core demographics— the younger consumers getting more and more dollars in their pockets and higher income groups,” Pawlak said. “And, it’s a great experimentation vehicle. If it does well, you can either save that again for another time or put it on your permanent menu.”
Contact Alicia Kelso at Alicia.Kelso@informa.com
Follow her on TikTok: @aliciakelso
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.