Coming To A Menu Near You: A Flurry Of Food Product Launches

It was an action-packed week in the food business, as several big brands announced new promotions and added new fall menu items. Here’s an overview of some of the major recent developments discussed this week on Brand Eating.

Endless shrimp at Red Lobster
Red Lobster announced that it is bringing back its popular all-you-can-eat shrimp deal for a limited time this fall. Customers can choose from an assortment of shrimp selections, including the new Pineapple Habanero Coconut bites.

McDonalds going cage-free
McDonalds Corp MCD continued its quest to turn around its slumping business by announcing its plan to transition all of its U.S. and Canadian stores to cage-free eggs over the next 10 years. The PR move follows McDonalds recent decision to expand its all-day breakfast locations to all U.S. locations starting on October 6.

White Castle transitions to all-day breakfast
White Castle beat McDonalds to the all-day breakfast punch this week by expanding its all-day breakfast offerings to all of its locations this week. The move comes on the heels of the massive success of Yum! Brands Inc YUM’s move to bring non-traditional breakfast offerings to its Taco Bell restaurants last year.

Kellogg unveils fall lineup
Kellogg Co K announced its 2015 seasonal fall products, including new Pumpkin Spice Frosted Mini-Wheats. In addition, Kellogg is launching Apple Cinnamon Crunch Special K and bringing back Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts and Keebler Pumpkin Spice Fudge Stripe cookies.

Dunkin Donuts’ 2015 Pumpkin Menu
Dunkin Brands Group Inc DNKN also announced its fall 2015 menu this week. This year’s fall treats include the brand new Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares and Reese’s Peanut Butter Squares. In addition, Dunkin is bringing back the popular Pumpkin Coffee and Lattes, Pumpkin Donuts, Pumpkin Munchkins and Pumpkin Muffin.

Starbucks Japan launches pumpkin sandwich
Perhaps the most outside-the-box new fall offering announced recently was the move by Starbucks Corp SBUX to top the mass of coffee shops offering pumpkin-flavored drinks and go straight for the "pumpkin sandwich" at its Japan locations. There is no catch to the name: the sandwich is described as two slices of barley bread filled with boiled slices of Japanese pumpkin, leaf lettuce and a honey and cream cheese sauce.
 

Disclosure: the author holds no position in any of the stocks mentioned.