The fast food restaurant hopes to compete with Chipotle by providing customers with high-quality, reasonably priced options.

In contrast to Chipotle, its main competitor in the Mexican fast food industry, Taco Bell often introduces multiple new items in the span of a single week. The network continues to expand at a dizzying rate, with no apparent pattern.

It appears that even popular limited-time bargains that come up every so often arrive and go at random. Sometimes a fan-favorite returns after an absence of just a few months, while other times it vanishes for good.

Different scripts are used for various menu items at Yum Brands (YUM – Get Free Report), for example. For instance, it prominently advertised the return of the Volcano Menu. To promote the debut, Taco Bell sent out press releases to the media.

The introduction of other products occurs with little fanfare (sometimes on purpose, to generate interest on social media). That’s especially the case when the chain is doing limited evaluations of new products.

Right now, Taco Bell has two separate experiments going on with potential new items that could make it onto the national menu or (more likely) could disappear forever.

>>> Taco Bell launches the Grilled Cheese Dipping Taco On Aug 3

Taco Bell wants to offer value and compete on higher-priced items

Taco Bell wants to do two things: offer good value and show that it can compete with Chipotle at the higher end of the market. During the first-quarter earnings call for his company, Yum Brands CEO David Gibbs talked about this.

“This quarter, Taco Bell made customers talk about craveable products like the Crispy Melt Taco and the Grilled Cheese Burrito, while still offering $2 burritos on the Cravings Value Menu for everyday value,” he said. “The popularity of the Grilled Cheese Burrito is a great example of how Taco Bell can win in the big burrito category and compete at higher price points while still being the leader in value.”

Now, the chain is testing two different menu items. Each one is either about value or about competing at higher price points.

Taco Bell testing two new menu items

Taco Bell has been testing a new Shredded Beef Grilled Cheese Burrito in a few sites in Oklahoma.

“Grilled until bubbly, the Shredded Beef Grilled Cheese Burrito has a melty three-cheese blend on the inside and Taco Bell’s new slow-braised shredded beef simmered in spices until tender and juicy, as well as a classic, flavorful green sauce,” Chewboom reported.

offers $2 Chicken Flatbread Melts that come in two flavors: Mexican BBQ Flatbread Melt and Three-Cheese Flatbread Melt.

A different Chewboom story said, “The Mexican BBQ Flatbread Melt is made with grilled, marinated all-white meat chicken that has been slathered in a spicy new Mexican BBQ sauce. It is served with melted cheddar, mozzarella, and Monterey pepper jack cheeses.”

The Three-Cheese Flatbread Melt “adds a creamy and mildly spicy twist with its Creamy Chipotle sauce and three shredded cheeses: cheddar, mozzarella, and Monterey pepper jack,” the site says.

Taco Bell sells these new items both on their own and as part of different combo meals.

>>> Taco Bell Menu With Prices June 2023 Update

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