A Sale You Won’t Want To Miss + What Taco Bell Tells Us About America Today

Plus: Khloe Kardashian’s new popcorn reviewed, my thoughts on Hiya's new hydration product, and more

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Taco Bell’s Exceptionalism Tells Us a Lot About America Today

It’s earnings season on Wall Street and pretty much every fast food brand — from McDonald’s to Starbucks to Chipotle — is posting disappointing results this quarter. Leadership mostly blames consumer sentiment, saying that people are eating out less due to economic uncertainty. Looked at this way, the results might be a leading indicator of a coming recession; because consumers buy and eat food every day, changes in spending show up sooner here than in some other parts of the economy (sales for CPG companies like PepsiCo and General Mills were also down). 

I think we also have to wonder whether GLP-1 drugs play some role in these results. It’s become clear that Americans are snacking less and differently than they have in the past (super interesting data on that here); a study out of Cornell earlier this year showed that GLP-1 use cut grocery spending by 6 percent, and this and other analyses showed that calorie-dense, processed foods took the biggest hit. I have not yet seen any research on GLP-1 use and fast food, but it would stand to reason that the same factors affecting snack foods apply here as well. That’s a much bigger long-term issue for KFC or Burger King than consumer sentiment.     

There is, however, one brand bucking the sales trend in a major way: Taco Bell. U.S. same-store sales grew 9 percent last quarter, while competitors like McDonald’s, Chipotle, KFC, and Domino’s all slowed down. Taco Bell’s win is too big to be a fluke; it’s the company’s fifth consecutive quarter with U. S. same store-sales increasing. Here’s what Taco Bell’s success tells us about what American consumers want right now: 

• Value, value, value: Taco Bell has the lowest check average of all major fast food brands. In January the company introduced Cravings Boxes, their version of a combo deal; $5 buys you two full-sized menu items, a side, and a drink. That means for less than the cost of a Big Mac, you can get a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, a Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists, and a medium Mountain Dew. Hard to beat. 

• Newness: Taco Bell has become renowned in the industry for being an absolute beast when it comes to menu innovation. This is clearly becoming a bigger and bigger draw for consumers as our attention spans continue to diminish. The Bell has said it plans to roll out 30 new items in 2025. The CEO of Domino’s, by way of comparison, recently teased … two. Chipotle sometimes goes years without putting out anything new. 

• Spectacle: Those new Taco Bell menu items tend to be maximalist attention-grabbers, like, for instance, hot pink Milk Bar Birthday Cake Churros or the Flamin' Hot Burrito, which is filled with nacho cheese sauce, sour cream, seasoned beef, new Flamin' Hot rice, and Flamin' Hot Fritos. This gonzo culinary style originated in 2012, with the release of the Doritos Locos Taco — a product that at the time seemed too ridiculous to be believed, and went on to become one of the brand’s best-selling menu items of all time. Products like this are not only great for generating social media buzz, but, crucially, they also make a visit to Taco Bell about more than just sourcing a convenient, cheap meal. Suddenly, it’s an experience. If you hang out with tweens and teens you know that this is the stuff that generates the Gen Alpha equivalent of watercooler talk. And at $2 to try a Flamin’ Hot Burrito, almost anyone can afford to get in on it. 

Sick of Tipping? We Asked For It

The Wall Street Journal reports that more than 1,000 people commented on a recent article about the fact that Americans are tipping less than they have in years, using the forum to share their gripes about tipping culture. Folks complained about digital tipping prompts, the proliferation of surcharges on restaurant checks, and declining service quality overall. 

I get it, and I have a lot of sympathy with this point of view. I’ve written previously about how tipping is a terrible system and why it should be eliminated. Extensive research into the subject (largely conducted by Michael Lynn at Cornell University) has shown that tip size correlates more closely to a female server’s breast size than to the quality of service she provides; that white servers earn bigger tips than Black or Brown colleagues; that Black diners receive worse service in restaurants because servers expect them to give smaller tips. Rates of corruption are higher in countries where tipping is more prevalent. Tipping is, all around, a corrosive force in the economy and a deeply unfair way to compensate people for their labor. 

That’s why I was thrilled by the “service included” movement that began to take hold in the restaurant industry in the mid-2010s. Several high-profile restaurant owners, most notably Danny Meyer, made a big gamble on eliminating tipping in their establishments, instead folding the cost of fair compensation directly into menu prices. An $18 pasta became $22, but you didn’t have an extra 20% on the bill at the end of the night. 

What happened? Almost all of those businesses, including Meyers’s, have since gone back to a tipping model. Consumers balked at the higher menu prices, even though in the vast majority of cases, the final cost of their meal was the same either way. Restaurants with a service-included model lost business to those with lower menu prices, and eventually they quietly returned to the old ways. 

Independent restaurants (and coffee shops) are skating on impossibly thin margins, and they’ve heard customers loud and clear about what happens if you bump up the price of a burger or a latte in an attempt to do away with tips. They can’t raise menu prices, so they add surcharges or a point-of-sale tipping prompt. This, too, is drawing customer ire. The inevitable conclusion is that whether it comes in the form of higher menu prices or tip prompts, people simply don’t like paying the true cost of dining out. But if we want our favorite food businesses to exist next month or next year, the money has to come from somewhere.

Khloud Popcorn: A Taste Test

Last week, Khloe Kardashian launched a high-protein popcorn brand called Khloud—the first Kardashian foray, at least that I’m aware of, into the world of food. Popcorn has long been diet-coded — what with its exceptionally low calorie density, short ingredient list, and gluten-free status — so, given what we know about Kardashian eating habits, it’s an unsurprising place for Khloe to dive in.

Khloud Popcorn sells for $5 a bag (exclusively at Target, for now) and comes in three flavors: Olive Oil & Sea Salt, White Cheddar, and Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn. All are free from worrisome additives and have 7 grams of protein per serving — about as much as an egg — versus 2-3 grams in normal popcorn. If you’re wondering how you get protein into popcorn, it arrives by way of a light dusting of milk protein isolate, which is simply whey and casein proteins isolated from skim milk. (A note to the lactose intolerant: this product is not for you!!) 

I’ll say first that as with protein-loaded freezer waffles or high-protein Wheaties, I find the whole premise of the product to be a little silly. Most Americans don’t need more protein than they already get in order to maintain or even gain muscle mass, and the benefits of consuming protein — whether you’re thinking in terms of weight loss or wanting to feel fuller for longer — are more substantial when you’re eating protein as a whole food (in an egg or chicken breast or soybean) rather than as an isolate.  

But how does Khloud Popcorn it taste? I found two of the flavors, Olive Oil & Sea Salt and White Cheddar, occupying an endcap at my local Target, and decided to find out. 

If you can get over all the wellness culture dog whistles on the packaging (protein, “no unhealthy seed oils,” etc), it’s honestly pretty good. The flavor is nutty and mildly salty, with the main difference from normal popcorn being a slight creaminess from the milk protein (for the White Cheddar flavor, that mostly disappears beneath the buttermilky, cheesy notes). My only real ding is that the popcorn has a slightly chalky aftertaste, despite a call-out on the back of the pack specifically promising “no chalky aftertaste” ... methinks the lady doth protest too much!!

In my opinion the best-tasting popcorn on the shelf remains the OG, Smartfood. But the haters offering knee-jerk takes on how terrible the popcorn must be because it’s Kardashian-branded should try it first! 

My Thoughts on Hiya’s New Hydration Powder for Kids  

Hiya, the children’s vitamin brand, just released a hydration product for kids. The folks at Hiya seem nice and well-intentioned, so I’m going to share my thoughts on this product below a paywall … just between friends. ;)