Wendy’s renews French fries to prevent them from going rancid

New York (CNN Business) – Few things in life are worse than liquid potato chips. Wendy She says she has a solution.

The fast food chain has given its bestselling product a makeover in the age of Covid: a fried porridge It retains more heat and stays crisper for longer than its predecessor. The potato chip upgrade, which will be available across the US in mid-September, has been set up as more people shift their ordering preferences to self-service and home delivery due to the pandemic.

Although the emergence of new French fries will be Familiar with Wendy fans, will not have the taste.

“You’ll notice the difference once you try them,” Wendy President Kurt Kane said in an exclusive interview with CNN Business. The proof is in taste.

“What we did was balance out the chips and keep a little bit of the peel so we could enhance the flavor,” he said. “We’ve used a mixing system that allows us to keep them crisp, both when fresh from the fryer and after several minutes.”

The mixing system consists of immersing the potatoes in the oil. Keen says french fries have improved because restaurants are using new, shorter frying baskets, which help the fries to fully soak in the oil.

“These new baskets allow us to make sure that the potatoes are fried properly all the time,” he added.

Wendy will now use shorter baskets to fry the potatoes, which will distribute the oil better.

Wendy’s has spent the past four years researching how to improve french fries. Kane said about 20 different designs were considered before coming up with one that was “very consistent in shape and size with what we’ve had historically.”

The last time Wendy changed French fries she was working November 2010, when I added sea salt and used a natural cut “in the crust”. This was the first time the French fries were modified since they opened in 1969.

Ultimately, the idea to improve the fries was to “put an end to the disappointing and inconsistent experiences of french fries that other places still serve,” he said.

The first feedback is positive: Wendy’s cited a national taste test conducted by the company that showed participants preferred the chain’s new fries over McDonald’s by a two-to-one margin. It’s “a good way to beat up the old French fries,” Kane said.

With the increase in sales and delivery service in the past year, cold and softened French fries have become a problem for consumers.

“Many of the design features are designed to ensure that we can serve up crisp, hot potato chips every time, no matter how we get to Wendy’s,” he said. The fries will remain salty and will be served in a new package that “enhances the potato”.

Kane declined to comment on how much Wendy’s would cost to launch, but said the company places “a great deal of importance” on its marketing. Wendy’s recently announced that it is investing an additional $10 million to publicize its expanded breakfast menu.