Mixed-brand fast foods selling like mixed plate

By Bruce Horovitz
USA Today

The future of fast food might be as simple as this: twofer. Not two meals for the price of one. Two restaurant choices for the price of a single stop.

The company that does it best, Tricon Global Restaurants, made that point yesterday when it announced it bought the A&W and Long John Silver's brands for $320 million. Tricon will blend in those brands with three it's already mixing and matching, including in Hawai'i: Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.

Tricon's efforts have not gone unnoticed by the rest of the fast-food industry. Everyone from McDonald's to Wendy's is looking at similar multi-brand, multi-taste ventures.

Ask anyone who's ever stepped into the food court of a shopping mall: Consumers like having the choice of a brand-name burger or a brand-name taco. Or both. And all the people in a group can find something they like.

Tricon plans to change its corporate name to Yum Brands with its dual purchase. David Novak, chairman and chief executive, says the 1,500 co-branded restaurants that Tricon owns typically post sales 25 percent to 40 percent higher than its single-brand units. Co-branding also saves labor, real estate and utility costs.

This spring, McDonald's will open its first triple-branded restaurant at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. It will combine a McDonald's with a Boston Market and a Donatos Pizzeria.

Since 1991, Allied Domecq has been placing Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlors inside Dunkin' Donuts shops.