Zaxbys has been in the chicken finger business since 1990, six years before Raising Cain’s and decades earlier than Wendy’s. But with the competition getting fiercer with every new chicken tender or wing to hit the market, the fast casual had to build more awareness about its DNA.
Enter Patrick Schwing, chief marketing & strategy officer for the Atlanta-based fast casual and this week’s guest on Menu Talk.
“We wanted our sauce equity to be more prominent, and we made that very visible by restructuring the menu,” said Schwing. “Famous fingers and sauces is our core, so that is the focus.”
To start, he worked on changing the menu “architecture” to make the format easier to navigate. The 12 sauces and chicken items are now front and center. But he realized that Zaxbys was deficient in other categories, most notably, sides, salads and desserts. The team added items including fried pickles, cheddar bites and cookies to the core menu and returned salads featuring chicken. “Salads were largely abandoned during COVID, but having a fresh salad is a competitive edge,” said Schwing.
Limited-time offers have also become a bigger part of Zaxbys' menu strategy. Tacos, a surf ‘n turf box and a Zappetizer Trio are a few standouts.
Schwing is also leading the charge to expand digital menu boards systemwide and partner with pop culture figures for marketing campaigns. Rapper Omar Epps was recently enlisted as the “Sauce Boss” to promote the chain’s limited-time Sauce Boss Box combo meal.
Listen as Schwing talks about how Zaxbys is differentiating itself in the crowded chicken space through upgrades in menu, operations, marketing, service and more.
Menu Talk is a collaboration between Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. You can subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts.
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