Most wouldn’t think the home of Cheesy Gorditas, the Chalupa Supreme, and the 7-Layer Burrito is the healthier fast food option, but for Taco Bell, a health-conscious menu drives their brand. Throughout the past decade, the chain has continuously enhanced its menu with fresher, higher-quality ingredients and calorie-conscious, go-to meal options for its 40-plus million weekly customers.
The key ingredient to Taco Bell’s transformation has been its first dietitian, Missy Schaaphok, who joined the company’s general product development team in 2011. Soon after, she shifted her role in a new direction, overseeing its food nutrition, becoming Taco Bell’s in-house RD in 2012. Today, she heads Taco Bell’s Global Nutrition and Sustainability division.
“I had no idea what I was asking for or what that meant or what leading nutrition at a fast food company looked like, but I would say it’s been a very humbling experience, and I’m very excited where I’m at today,” Schaaphok told us. “My role has continued to evolve and change over time. I’m still in product development and work on the food innovation team, but now I have a team.”
Schaaphok now leads a team of three within the food innovation team, including a second dietitian that works closely with her in overseeing the menu’s nutritional content and sustainability.
Taco Bell
Promoting its fresh and healthy ingredients and food processes for more than 14 years, the company even broke down its nutritional progress since 2005—from cage-free eggs, no antibiotics important to human medicine in chicken, the removal of additives, and more—in its Food for All Journey chart. Today’s Taco Bell is continuing its menu offerings with its 510-and-under calorie Power Menu; lighter, Fresco-style alternatives; and a more fully dedicated vegetarian menu to restaurants for the first time later this year.
Schaaphok gave us a look at what’s ahead for Taco Bell.
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Fresco Style
Already an option at restaurants for years, “Fresco style” gives customers lighter versions of their Taco Bell favorites. This style replaces guacamole, cheeses, mayo-based sauces, and reduced-fat sour cream on nearly any menu item with freshly prepared pico de gallo, which can reduce fat by up to 25 percent. Items on this menu are all less than 350 calories and under 10 grams of fat.
Customers can order something “Fresco style” at the drive-thru, at Taco Bell restaurants, when ordering online, or on a mobile device. “It’s a really easy, quick way to reduce calories and fat that can be implemented across any menu item,” Schaaphok said. “That is one way that we give customers the option and the choice to apply this customization tool to any of their favorite menu items. And what it does is it simply replaces ingredients that are typically high in fat like cheeses, mayo-based sauces, sour cream … with our fresh pico de gallo.”
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The Power Menu
On the menu for several years, the Power Menu was designed to deliver bowls and burritos under 510 calories and more than 20 grams of lean protein, using grilled chicken and steak. “That’s been a really great menu for us, because it’s a step above the Fresco Menu, which is under 350 calories,” said Schaaphok. “What we wanted to do is deliver something a little bit more fulfilling and satiating with bowls and burritos so that you can get one item. You can fill up but not feel like you overate, and you still get all the amazing, classic, craveable flavors of Taco Bell with our grilled proteins, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. You get all of the ingredients that you know and love at Taco Bell and know that you’re getting it for under 510 calories.”
The Power Menu is also a great option during training, according to Schaaphok. “We’ve actually had other health organizations write about the Power Menu as being a good option for those who are physically active in that space,” she said. “They also have the Fresco option. It’s so easy, and it’s helping people eat what they love to eat, but just making it a little bit better. Then, of course, they have [the] vegetarian [menu]. I love our black beans, so if I can swap out meat for black beans on any item, I’m in heaven.”
At the end of 2017, Taco Bell joined the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, which is comprised supply chain representatives, environmental and animal welfare organizations, academics, research organizations, and veterinarians working to improve the sustainability of U.S.-grown beef.
“We’ve been involved in designing and developing the guidelines around what sustainable beef means, because at this point it’s not truly defined,” said Schaaphok. “Being involved in the working group is having a seat at the table, having a voice in guiding where these principles lie. Later this year, the U.S. Roundtable is going to be releasing those guiding principles that we’ve been involved in, so there will be more to come for the evolution of our involvement with [them].”
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Vegetarian Value
Fast food chains like White Castle, with its Impossible Foods menu option, and Carl’s Jr.’s, which recently introduced the plant-based Beyond Meat, are jumping on the fast-food vegetarian wagon, but Taco Bell was always there. Back in 2015, Taco Bell officially launched its vegetarian menu online in partnership with the American Vegetarian Association, and later this year, the chain will launch a dedicated space on the regular, in-store menu board for its vegetarian options for the first time.
Currently, Taco Bell has more than eight million vegetarian combinations, and its enhanced menu will finally feature its most iconic vegetarian items displayed more prominently and also highlight other options with a special symbol. “Right now, we have 11 or so existing certified vegetarian options that have always been on the menu,” said Schaaphok. “The 7-Layer Burrito, for example, is certified vegetarian, and that’s on the menu today. If people order it, we’re gonna make it more pronounced and easier for people to know where to find our vegetarian offerings.”
On April 4, Taco Bell started testing its first-ever dedicated vegetarian menu in the Dallas market. The American Vegetarian Association-certified (AVA) menu also features two brand-new items—the Vegetarian Crunchwrap Supreme (a twist on the classic menu item elevated by black beans) and the Vegetarian Quesarito (a saucy quesadilla-burrito packed with black beans)—in addition to the fan-favorite 7-Layer Burrito.
Dallas consumers will be able to easily identify any AVA-certified items, like the classic Bean Burrito by a green “V” symbol, on the menu. For customers looking for certified vegan options, they can simply order one of the vegetarian items and ask for it to be made “Fresco Style.” Pending the results of this Dallas vegetarian testing, Taco Bell will target a national rollout of these changes for late 2019 or early 2020.
“I’m really excited to actually see how this transformation of our vegetarian journey and menu makes it into restaurants,” said Schaaphok. “The challenging part has been finding space for the menu, because I’m sure if you’ve been into a Taco Bell, you’ve seen quite a lot of things on the menu.”
Overall, Schaaphok sees the company moving toward more plant-based eating—having more vegetarian options on the menu. “We’re making it even easier by bringing this menu into our restaurants,” she said. “It’s going to give us an opportunity to innovate even further around this vegetarian menu. I see us evolving this and bringing in more limited-time offers and looking at more exciting ingredients that we can play around with and promote. That’s where I really see our menu evolving.”
From a food innovation standpoint, there are a few work streams to Taco Bell’s healthy approach: stealth health and true menu innovations. “On a stealth health side, we’ve done a ton of work. We’ve cleaned up our ingredients statements, removing artificial colors and flavors and high fructose corn syrup and PHOs,” said Schaaphok. “We’re on a journey to reduce sodium that we’re continuing because we have a goal to reduce sodium by 25 percent by 2025.”
Taco Bell is also making it easy for customers to count calories with its nutrition calculator. “The calculators are a really awesome tool because they can really pick and choose all of their favorite ingredients, and can get it to a place that they want,” said Schaaphok. The company has also tapped into topics consumers are interested in and translate them into blog posts to educate, open discussion, and to remain transparent in their processes. Regular blogs like “How to Eat Vegan at Taco Bell” or “How to Indulge in Guilt-Free Taco Bell Any Time of Day” break down everything from ingredients to some food pairing options or meal combos that fit individual, dietary needs.
