Taco Bell behind the innovation

[heidih]

I found this beyond creepy. I don't eat there. The money they spend to manipulate consumers wow! Maybe pay wall  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/24/taco-bells-innovation-kitchen-the-front-line-in-the-stunt-food-wars

Edited April 19, 2023 by heidih (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

I found this beyond creepy. I don't eat there. The money they spend to manipulate consumers wow! Maybe pay wall  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/24/taco-bells-innovation-kitchen-the-front-line-in-the-stunt-food-wars

 

I've eaten at Taco Bell as many times as I've dined at McDonald's -- once.  Nonetheless, I don't find this article creepy at all.  I wouldn't mind some good fast food for dinner at the moment.

 

[heidih]

Good is personally defined I suppose.  The reach of their hold on the country and that comment by the one senior exce about how they needed to be careful not to adversely affect the food supply chain by overtaking the availability of an ingredient. When he "oops" mis-stated parsley when he menat cilantro. That is a powerful influence on a large country/population. I did laugh at the difference most cars being automatic now versus stick - so easier in car eating for the driver. 

Edited April 19, 2023 by heidih (log)

[blue_dolphin]

3 hours ago, heidih said:

I did laugh at the difference most cars being automatic now versus stick - so easier in car eating for the driver.

I've never eaten at Taco Bell nor have I eaten anything other than an occasional apple and piece of cheese while driving. I know I’m a fossil but I have never owned a car with an automatic transmission.

When I’m driving, I’m driving and when I’m eating, I’m eating.  

Still, I enjoyed the article for its view into a different world.

 

[Katie Meadow]

I gave up half way through the article, which I wouldn't have done had I had the magazine in hand, but that's just me; reading on line makes me impatient. The most telling line, among many telling lines, at least for me, was this:

 

“There’s all these parameters around your creativity,” Carson said. “You just have to wipe your mind of certain facts.”

 

Ain't it the truth.  My nightmare: eating at Taco Bell in a state with open carry laws. When I lived in NM it amazed me that Taco Bell had a foothold there.  

[Kim Shook]

I guess I'm not surprising anyone when I say I love Taco Bell and the Crunchwrap Supreme is my go-to.  I don't find anything creepy about food development on a corporate scale.  There's lots of creepy stuff in advertising and in corporate structure, but figuring out the science of how food works for different modes of eating doesn't seem at all creepy to me.  

 

I will never understand the sectioning off of different versions of food.  If I love an "authentic" soft corn taco with carnitas, I shouldn't like a crunchy corn taco with ground beef and iceberg lettuce.  If I love NC pork, do I distain TX beef brisket?  If I enjoy "authentic" Chinese food from the tiny little place in the Asian neighborhood in my city, should I stay away from my beloved crab Rangoon and General Tso?  My mother insisted that blue crab should only be eaten plain - picked or, at most, in a crab cake.  I used to tell her that she was missing a lot by policing her food so stringently.   

[heidih]

@Kim Shook My reaction was not food snobbery based in intent. It was more my wrapping my head around all the effort and money put into "development". I understand the need for uniformity for a chain. The consumer needs to receive what they expect. Why many tourists from US for example sigh with relief at seeing a McD - they want a  hit of what they are used to alongside new tastes in other countries.  I also have read about the assembly time considerations many in fast food - key word "fast". Back in the day when we all went out to the bar after work on Wednesdays to celebrate making it past "hump day" - a cheap consistent Taco Bell bean and  cheese burrito to get you through to Thursday was a joy. As @blue_dolphin noted - the article is a very interesting peek into the backstory of what many take for granted.

 

BTW: for Kim on the taco crunch - a beloved Los Angeles food spot Tito's Tacos is famous for its hard shell tacos. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2fzboe5BbE

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by heidih (log)

[C. sapidus]

10 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

I've never eaten at Taco Bell nor have I eaten anything other than an occasional apple and piece of cheese while driving. I know I’m a fossil but I have never owned a car with an automatic transmission.

When I’m driving, I’m driving and when I’m eating, I’m eating. 

 

For the record - I have also only owned manual cars, but I once ate an entire Ethiopian dinner while driving.

The key is 1) occasionally steering with your knees; and 2) being prepared to drop the food if a sudden driving need arises.

[Kim Shook]

13 minutes ago, heidih said:

BTW: for Kim on the taco crunch - a beloved Los Angeles food spot Tito's Tacos is famous for its hard shell tacos. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2fzboe5BbE

 

It's funny - because of my age and having been brought up most of my childhood just outside of Washington DC, my first exposure to Mexican food was during the 7 months we lived in the San Fernando Valley in 1970.  I remember buying a tray of taquitos from a little stand across from the movie theatre.  The place had a couple of booths inside where you sat if your parents brought you, but if you were tooling around on your bike or going into the theatre, you bought them through a little window.  They were filled with shredded beef or chicken and topped with a mild, translucent greenish sauce and were very crunchy.  I believe that I had those before I had my first taco.  

[kayb]

I get the urge for Taco Bell about once a year. Always the same order: three crunchy tacos and a Diet Pepsi. And lots of mild sauce.

[C. sapidus]

22 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

It's funny - because of my age and having been brought up most of my childhood just outside of Washington DC, my first exposure to Mexican food was during the 7 months we lived in the San Fernando Valley in 1970.

Yes we could get pupusas and excellent tamales long before we could get decent tacos. I remember going to "Mexican" restaurants where all of the posters and artwork were from Peru or Ecuador.

 

To this day the DC area has far more immigrants from central and south America than from Mexico.

Edited April 20, 2023 by C. sapidus
Splelnig (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

I found the article extremely interesting because Taco Bell was one of my husband's favorite fast foods and it has really caught on here in Costa Rica. They've had franchises here for more than 30 years. However, the innovative items didn't show up on the menus here. I must say that their food was at least filling. But down here, the quality and the service at different franchises varied tremendously. There were several that we dubbed the slowest fast food in Costa Rica.

[gfweb]

John Updyke referred to it as Taco Belch in the Rabbit series.

So he was certainly a visitor.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I can't think of Taco Bell without hearing Janis Ian's Bayonne Blues in my head.