Taco Bell Launches Defy Concept: How The Fast Food Brand Is Innovating With Drive-Thru Experiences

Fast food giant Taco Bell is launching its “Taco Bell Defy” restaurant on Tuesday, June 7. Here is what makes this new restaurant stand out.

What Happened: First announced last year, the new Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Taco Bell location opens June 7 and is the first “Taco Bell Defy” location. The restaurant features a two-story model and some of the most advanced technology and designs from the restaurant company owned by Yum! Brands YUM.

“Taco Bell Defy is an incredible innovation for our brand, and one that’s meeting our consumer in a really unique way. For decades we’ve been committed to providing a fast, safe and friendly drive-thru experience; now with our bold goal of creating a two minute or less drive-thru experience for customers of this concept,” Taco Bell President Mike Grams said.

In partnership with franchisee Border Foods, the new location offers digital check-in screens for mobile orders via QR codes, audio and video technology for the second floor of the drive thru and more added features. A proprietary vertical lift is also featured for the drive-thru lanes.

Taco Bell customers who order with the Taco Bell app can skip the drive-thru line. Delivery drivers for third-party brands will also see improved order time and a way to differentiate themselves from other drive-thru customers.

Related Link: Taco Bell Celebrates 100th Restaurant In Spain, Surpassing International Expansion Goals 

Why It’s Important: Taco Bell said the items at the new location could be added to other locations and will play a key role in the company’s new unit growth.

“As the brand celebrates the 60th anniversary this year, Taco Bell Defy symbolizes a significant drive-thru evolution, with an advancement in digital to meet consumers’ need for speed,” according to the company. 

Taco Bell has launched several initiatives over the years to expand its stores and improve customer relations. The new Defy concept has an ultimate goal of reducing service times from drive-thru to less than 2 minutes. The company said it now has an average of under 4 minutes for its drive-thru and the national average is around 6 minutes.

As the fast food restaurant industry sees increased market share for drive-thru and third-party delivery and less reliance on dine-in sales, Taco Bell could stand out with new concepts like Taco Bell Defy.

Taco Bell had first-quarter sales of $7.8 billion, up 5% year-over-year. Same store sales for the brand were up 8% with 7% same store sales growth in the U.S. and 37% growth in international locations. Sixty-three new Taco Bell locations opened in the first quarter, continuingthe company’s unit growth.

YUM Price Action: Yum Brands shares were trading up 0.78% to $119.52 on Monday versus a 52-week range of $108.54 to $139.85.

Photo courtesy of Taco Bell.