Wendy’s Is Doing Breakfast Again, Has a Really Good Feeling About It This Time

Wendy’s is giving nationwide breakfast the old college try again

After trying and failing to make headway in breakfast time and time again, Wendy’s is recommitting to the first meal of the day with a plan to invest $20 million and hire 20,000 additional employees in order to launch a nationwide breakfast menu in 2020. The chain’s breakfast options, which are currently available in approximately 300 locations, includes the Breakfast Baconator (layers of sausage, cheese, bacon, on a bun), Frosty-ccino (a Frosty with coffee in it), and Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit (self-explanatory).

Breakfast has become an increasingly important part of fast-food chains’ growth strategy, with the morning meal accounting for 21 percent of U.S. restaurant traffic in 2018, according to Forbes. Competitors like Taco Bell, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, and of course, McDonald’s — which counts morning hours as its most profitable time of day — have all been more aggressive than Wendy’s in the breakfast space. Better late than never!

And in other news…

• An analyst estimated that Popeyes sold 1,000 chicken sandwiches per store a day, accounting for 30 percent of Popeyes sales during the short-lived crazed, and doubling store traffic. [CNBC]
• The Midwest is the White Claw capital of the world, according to geotagged tweets and Google Trends. [Insider]
• The Times on Appalachian food. [NYT]
• Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle chips are permanently joining Lay’s roster of chips. [Popsugar]
• LeBron James-backed fast-casual pizza chain Blaze Pizza is growing and looking to take on Domino’s with delivery. [Thrillist]
• Is this 11-year-old vegan chef the next Flynn McGarry? [NPR]
• Now grocery chain Albertsons is asking customers not to openly carry guns in its stores, taking a cue from Walmart, Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, and Wegmans. [Review Journal]
• Behold: Singapore’s Michelin Bib Gourmands this year. [CNA Lifestyle]
• First Call Me By Your Name, now Korean thriller Parasite: peaches are Hollywood’s hottest fruit. [Vulture]
• Jolly Rancher vs. molten glass:

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]