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Wendy's launches new 'Hot & Crispy Fry Guarantee'

Wendy's is out with an unusual new initiative dubbed the the 'Hot & Crispy Fry Guarantee.' The new policy starts on Wednesday, allowing Wendy's customers to exchange purchased fries for hotter and crispier versions — with "no questions asked," according to the company. Brooke DiPalma joins Alexis Christoforous to break down the details.

Video transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Isn't it just horrible when you get those fries at a restaurant or a fast food chain and they come to you soggy and cold? Well, Wendy's is trying to change that. And they have got a new initiative out called the Hot and Crispy Fry Guarantee. And Brooke DiPalma here now with today's Brooke's Bites to fill us in. Brooke?

BROOKE DIPALMA: Alexis, that's right. If you're not happy or satisfied with your french fries at Wendy's, they will actually give you a free new package for free. So I spoke to Kurt Kane. He's the Wendy's US president and chief commercial officer. And he told me over the phone that if a customer gets an order of fries and they don't think that they're hot and crispy enough, then they should hand them back to us, and we should be happy to give them a brand new french fry in exchange.

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Now, beginning today, all franchisees will have brand new packaging outlining that guarantee. And this is part of an introduction of the newly updated french fry recipe that launched back in September, which took the fast food giant nearly four years and over 20 different cuts and shapes just to get right. Now once again, this is the brand new packaging. It says on the back, fries should be both hot and crispy. So, really putting a lot into this. I did get these about 30 minutes ago. But let's see if they are still warm.

Relatively still warm, Alexis. I am pretty surprised, actually. They're still crispy as well. Now Kane did tell us that the fast food giant really hit the mark on this with the largest support that he's seen from franchisees since he began his tenure at Wendy's back in 2015. Now the amount in which Wendy's is putting into this investment was kept close to the vest, he said.

However, in our phone call, he did take a jab at competitor McDonald's, noting that Wendy's is putting the fries as the star of the show, whereas competitors, they love to say, would you like fries with that? They think about it as a second or a third tier option. They don't put it as number one in their heart.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right. I don't know if the fry is number one over the burger, but all right, I get it. Wendy's also announced a new deal with Google Cloud to help efficiency at its drive-thrus. What about that?

BROOKE DIPALMA: Yeah, Alexis. They're keeping a lot of the amount of how much they're investing in this AI technology and new recipes, once again, close to the vest. But Wendy's chief information officer did tell the Wall Street Journal that the company really wants to take the customer convenience to the next step and use all the data they collected during the COVID-19 pandemic to really create a new and, you know, altered, more convenient customer experience.

Examples of that include allowing customers, or employees, rather, to know if there's a long line of customers waiting on the drive-thru in order to put in that next fry, letting employees know when it's time to flip the burgers. Also voice recognition at its drive-ins, so there's no more shouting at the drive-thru. But rather, this AI technology taking what customers say and transcribing it, allowing it for customers and employees to have a more easy, more seamless experience.

Now, from July to October 2020, app downloads did jump by 15%. And Kurt Kane told Yahoo Finance that there are now more than 18 million reward members. But it is a long road ahead for Wendy's, as they continue to gain competition. Shake Shack rising the trend, Chipotle. Shares of Wendy's are down nearly 2% year to date. And compared to a year ago, they're down more than 9%. So, lots happening at Wendy's. We'll see if it pays off on Wall Street.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, Brooke DiPalma of Brooke's Bites, thanks so much.