Paul Rollinger
GBS 151 10am
30 November 2015
Taco Bell Report/Presentation
Introduction
Taco Bell is a chain of fast food restaurants that serves quick Mexican-style food. The company was founded in 1962 by Glen Bell. Bell served what his customers referred to as “Tay-Kohs.” Over time, more items were added to the menu and were considered an American twist on modern Mexican cuisine. In addition to tacos, Taco Bell restaurants also serve burritos, quesadillas, nachos, gorditas, and other specialty items to its customers.
Market Analysis Taco Bell represents the largest portion of the Tex-Mex, or “Americanized” Mexican food. It is even larger than most authentic Mexican food restaurants combined. Close competitors to Taco Bell include Del Taco, McDonald’s, Subway, and Jack-in-the-box and Filiberto’s in the western United States. More restaurants have been opening very quickly in the U.S. and globally for the past 50 years. Most recently, expansion to India has been a plan for Taco Bell and operations have already taken place in 2014. It is clear that Taco Bell may dominate its competition in any area that it operates and will be successful worldwide.
Recent History With approximately 6200 restaurants Taco Bell is one of the largest quick-serve restaurants in the world. As of 2015, the company has just over 5,000 franchisees who own and operate Taco Bell restaurants. From 2014 to 2015, Taco Bell has had a strong sales growth with no sign of slowing. Recent changes to their menu and new marketing strategies have continued to attract new customers and reel back in existing customers. In the past two years breakfast has become a part of the Mexican-inspired menu along with healthier alternatives on the Cantina Bell portion of the menu. The introduction to mobile ordering has seen an increase customers with the convenience of being able to order before they get to the restaurant.
Challenges
The ingredients that make up Taco Bell’s seasoned beef have sparked a bit of controversy in recent years as many claim that it is less than 50% real beef. Taco Bell not long ago faced being sued for allegedly lying about the percentage of real meat in their seasoned beef. The company had claimed their beef was 89% beef, however, some evidence had shown that only about 34% was actual beef. This did not stop customers from going to Taco Bell restaurants. One thing that did discourage Taco Bell visits was the licking of a stack of Tacos at a restaurant in Ridgecrest, California. An employee had a picture of himself posted via social media licking a stack of the newly unveiled Cool Ranch Dorito Tacos. The image sparked a significant amount of controversy and temporarily tainted the company’s image.
Culture
The environment at Taco Bell restaurants is fairly laid-back and easy to learn.Taco Bell likes to refer to its employees as “Champions” and strongly encourages management at local restaurants to empower their employees. There are few benefits available to employees hired by Taco Bell. Workers may apply for health insurance, receive half off of a meal, and work a flexible schedule. Taco Bell makes an effort to stay up to date with modern marketing methods and resources by posting to popular social media platforms and using catchy terms to describe their products. Consumers vary but are typically in the young male class and those who actively use social media.
S.W.O.T. Analysis Taco Bell is a very large corporation, but it is not perfect and may have many things to .add to a S.W.O.T. analysis. One particular analysis of Taco Bell’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is as follows:
Strengths - Taco Bell is a very popular brand and has high customer loyalty. They are well known because of their advertising and marketing strategies. Taco Bell is also known for its quick service. Recently, Taco Bell has been adapting to serving healthier foods to stay ahead of the competition. A change in the management and organizational structure has led to much of Taco Bell’s success over the years. The company developed a new job position called “Market Manager.” This position was created to increase responsibilities and make the decision making process easier. This new key strength promotes self-sufficiency, increased employee motivation levels and efficient customer services.
Weaknesses - Like every large company, Taco Bell has a few weaknesses. Taco Bell has encountered some bad rep and lost customers due to the traces of E. coli bacteria in 2006, 2009, and 2013 which led to customers being hospitalized. This led to multiple Taco Bells closing across the country. The hiring of less than reasonable employees has made it harder for the company to stay out of the public eye as a bad company. One employee mentioned earlier from Ridgecrest, California who licked a stack of tacos is a perfect example of why the process of getting hired at Taco Bell is too easy.
Opportunities -