When Taco Bell dropped the Mexican Pizza from its menu last year, Del Taco saw an opportunity.
Del Taco is rebooting a line of tostadas called Crunchtadas to answer an uproar created by Mexican Pizza fans.
“We saw there was a void, and we said ‘Let’s make it pretty interesting’” said Tim Hackbardt, chief marketing officer for Lake Forest-based Del Taco.
The chain launched its Crunchtada Tostadas in 2013 with beef and chicken versions, and for a while they were prominently featured on a value menu. But in recent years, only the bean and cheese version has been available.
The beef and chicken versions are coming back with new recipes that have toppings and sauces that give them more flavor, according to Hackbardt.
Crunchtadas will be a permanent menu addition, he said. They include the $2 Queso Beef Crunchtada, with queso blanco, grated cheddar cheese and diced tomatoes. The $3 Chicken Guacamole Crunchtada includes ranch sauce, lettuce, grated cheddar cheese, chopped fresh diced tomatoes and scoops of house-made guacamole.
The $1 Crunchtada Tostada, which Hackbardt called “the classic bean-cheese-lettuce build,” remains on the menu unchanged.
Del Taco began reviving Crunchtadas well before Taco Bell pulled Mexican Pizza, Hackbardt said.
“We’re building a really strong pipeline of products and concepts that we can go to. We don’t necessarily use them right away, but we’ve got them all built,” he said. “We probably built these last summer. They’ve just been sitting on the shelf. One of the things I’ll do is go back in time. What are the things that were successful at Del Taco?”
A product can be a hit if it’s not prominently displayed on a menu but has a sizable base of customers, he said.
Fast food fans have long memories, Hackbardt said, and they notice when their favorite foods drop out of sight, as when Irvine-based Taco Bell retired the Mexican Pizza in November, citing a commitment to reducing paper waste as the reason.
Del Taco has built a promotional campaign around that, using the word “ghosted,” as in being cut off from somebody. It has set up a hotline to call for “emotional support for those who have been ghosted by a certain competitor,” as well as Crunchtada coupons, according to a press release. The number is 1-877-3-Ghosted (1-877-344-6783).
Del Taco is also selling Crunchtada merchandise, including pool floaties, available on May 24.
The chain also has limited-time items on the menu, including burritos, tacos and fries with honey chipotle barbecue sauce and peach and blueberry bubble drinks. The latter are available as Lemonade Poppers or Mini-Milkshakes.
Although the nation currently experiencing a shortage of boba. The tapioca balls that go by other names, including bubbles and pearls, have to be shipped from Taiwan, and there have been supply chain issues for the fast food industry, including the blockage of the Suez Canal.
Hackbardt isn’t worried about Del Taco’s supply.
“We ordered our product well in advance,” he said. “We got ours ahead of the Suez Canal.”