Arby’s comeback fueled by protein
Fast-food chain finds niche with meat lovers
In an age when fast-food restaurants feel pressured to tout healthy fare, one chain stands unabashedly apart with a focus on what it perceives heartland diners want most: meat.
Lots of it, and not just the roast beef sandwiches that gave Arby’s its start 53 years ago. Now, with the advertising tag line of “We have the meats,” it offers everything from poultry to pork.
“Our brand has always been about big-meat, high-protein sandwiches,” Arby’s President Rob Lynch said. “We probably were not doing as good a job of promoting that. We got caught in the rut of being just a roast beef place.”
An emphasis on meat looks like a winning strategy. Last year, Arby’s says it saw annual U.S. sales of $3.7 billion, up from $3.5 billion in 2015. At the same time, sales at restaurants open at least a year rose 3.8% last year compared to the year before.
It’s an even sharper turnaround when viewed by its recent past. In 2008, the chain bought Wendy’s, which proved to be a disaster. Three years later, with sales at $3.1 billion, Wendy’s/Arby’s Group sold Arby’s to Roark Capital Group in Atlanta, its current owners.
Arby’s takes a no-apologies approach to its menu. To fend off fast-food critics and freshen its image, some major chains promote items that offer a counterpoint to their grease bombs.
Burger King sells sliced apples. McDonald’s serves a kale salad. KFC offers grilled — not just its namesake fried — chicken. Taco Bell has a “Fresco” option that replaces mayonnaise-based sauces, cheeses and other higher-calorie condiments with pico de gallo. Before spokesman Jared Fogle went to prison in a sex scandal, Subway plugged its sandwiches as a way to lose weight.
Lynch doesn’t buy it “Some of our competitors have struggled the last few years. They’re trying to be everything to everyone,” he explained. “We’re sticking with our strategy.”
The fast-food industry is known for incestuous copying, and Arby’s is now seeing other
chains take aim at their equity. Lynch cited McDonald’s new Signature Crafted sandwich line and Chick-fil-A’s limited-time Smokehouse BBQ Bacon Sandwich as examples.
Analysts have taken notice as well. They see Arby’s as a winner for carving out a unique position in a crowded fast-food market.
Arby’s is squarely back in the quick-service restaurant sandwich category, a segment of the industry that saw visits increase by 7% in the year ending June 2017 compared to a year ago, according to the NPD Group.
“The increase in customer traffic at these restaurants is evidence that there is a large segment of customers who like a lot of meat on their sandwiches,” said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant industry analyst.at the research firm. “Fans of big meat sandwiches feel that they are getting a good value for their money because they get a lot of meat, it tastes good and it fills them up.”
To fight back, Arby’s is trying to become the one-stop eatery for hardcore carnivores.
So Arby’s offers sandwiches with brisket, Angus steak and Greek-inspired gyros. Arby’s also started upping its limited-time offers, including venison sandwiches during hunting season, the Italian pork roast known as porchetta and, for last month’s Game of Thrones season finale, smoked turkey legs.
The downside is the calorie and fat, not to mention sodium, counts that come with a meatcentric menu. For example, an Arby’s Bourbon BBQ Brisket Sandwich has 720 calories and 39 grams of fat, and the Arby’s Reuben sandwich has 680 calories and 31 grams of fat. By comparison, a McDonald’s Big Mac has
540 calories and 28 grams of fat. Arby’s has a limited number of lower-calorie alternatives. Its Classic Roast Beef sandwich comes in at 360 calories and 14 grams of fatand a Chopped Farmhouse Salad with roast turkey is
230 calories and 14 grams of fat. “We’re never going to be a salad place,” Lynch said. “That’s not what makes us special or unique.”
The chain has found its sweet spot literally in middle America with most of its 3,300 locations away from the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, according to the company.
But Jerry McVety, a food service industry consultant based in Farmington Hills, Mich., says Arby’s has more work to do. He advises overhauling the restaurants’ architecture and decor and updating equipment.
“That helps attract and retain customers,” McVety said. “Brand is one thing. Image is another.”