Thinking outside of the bun… Your Crunchwrap Supreme may soon be airborne. Taco Bell just unveiled plans for “Defy,” its new four-lane drive-thru model that delivers food via vertical chutes down to your car. Taco Bell plans to activate its first QR scanner-powered Defy in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota next summer. It’s faster than OG drive thrus – and even more pandemic-friendly – it eliminates human-to-human burrito handoffs.
We’re in a drive-thru renaissance… and Taco Bell just built the Sistine Chapel. Drive-thrus were big pre-pandemic, but lockdown made them huge. Drive-thru orders grew 26% in the spring quarter of 2020 year-over-year, as dining rooms limited their capacity or full-stop closed. But as in-person dining returned, drive-thru lines didn’t shrink — they got even longer. Taco Bell wasn’t the only chain that noticed. Since the pandemic started:
- Smaller: Burger King unveiled a “Restaurant of Tomorrow” concept that’s 60% smaller than normal BK’s to add extra drive-thru lanes and more contactless options.
- Faster: Chipotle launched drive-thru “Chipotlanes” to accelerate its mobile order pick ups.
- Casual-er: Fast-casual chains like Sweetgreen and Shake Shack that didn’t have drive-thrus made plans to build their own, opening this year.
- But… Not everyone got the memo. Even before the pandemic, fast-casual chains with few, or zero, drive-thrus like TGI Friday’s have struggled. Meanwhile, Taco Bell’s profit rose in 2020, and this year, its first quarter sales increased 9% from a year ago.
Sometimes the queue matters just as much as the product… By re-imagining its drive-thrus, Taco Bell recognized that customers care about more than just taste — they also care about convenience and safety. Some states have revived mask mandates and other restrictions as the Delta spreads, and people start to scale back on dining IRL. But Taco Bell’s burrito chutes could help keep sales flowing.