Taco Bell has followed the lead of Jack-in-the-Box to eliminate kids’ meals from its menu, a move sure to please nutrition activist groups eager to keep kids from eating fast food.
While Jack-in-the-Box took the same action two years ago, Taco Bell will be the first national fast food chain to jettison kids’ meals.
Greg Creed, CEO of Taco Bell, said the choice would make the company more efficient. “As we continue our journey of being a better, more relevant Taco Bell, kid’s meals and toys simply no longer make sense for us to put resources behind,” Creed stated. “What does make sense is concentrating on expanding choices that meet and exceed the diverse needs of consumers of all ages, without losing focus on what makes us great today.”
Taco Bell does not have much business at stake in the decision; kids’ meals only account for 0.5 percent of its sales, as opposed to McDonald’s, whose Happy Meals account for 10 percent–roughly $3.5 billion in the U.S.
When Jack-in-the-Box removed kids’ meals, the Center for Science in the Public Interest warned, “We hope that McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell are paying attention to Jack in the Box, which has decided to stop using toys to market fast-food meals to children.”
Now CSPI is one-quarter of the way to its goal.
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