One of the new dishes planned by the launch next week is a Macaroni with Buffalo chicken ranch cheese. | Photo graceful of noodles.
With its transformation efforts showing signs of traction, Noodles & Company is preparing to launch its greatest menu overhaul in the history of the company next week with the brand strategy: “We know noodles”.
Drew Madsen, CEO of Broomfield, in the Broomfield chain, Colorado, said that he was very encouraged by the indications of a turnaround. As previously announced for the fourth quarter, sales of comparable stores at the system scale increased by 0.8% with traffic down 0.1%, or fundamentally stable, which was a large improvement compared to the decrease of 5.8% of traffic in the previous third quarter.
More encouraging, however, was a 3% increase in sales in comparable stores in the first eight weeks of this year, which included Traffic, said Madsen.
And to come next week is the next wave of a full menu upgrade that has been underway for about two years, with the help of the consulting company The Culinary Edge. This follows the beginnings of three new dishes last year as teasers, including the lemon garlic scampi, the chipotle chipotappi chicken and the crisp chicken alfredo.
Next week, the channel will unveil nine dishes, including five which are new in the menu and four traditional favorites that have been redesigned. At the end of the second quarter, two thirds of the menu will be new or improved, said Madsen.
He did not reveal all the details, but fans of Macaroni with cheese will be happy. Madsen has promised a whole new programming.
One of the new dishes will be a macaroni with Buffalo chicken ranches cheese, for example, with elbow noodles in a cheddar sauce and creamy jack cheese with chicken in parmesan crust, garnished with buffalo sauce, green onions, crispy onions and a ranch.
Another dish to come is a new basil pesto and improved Cavatappi – one of the oldest and most sold dishes of noodles. This version will star in tomatoes roasted by fire (rather than the Roma) and the older parmesan (rather than shredded). The dish will also have a 60% increase in the sauce and will be topped with fresh herbs.
The latter had a taste score that was nine points above the current version, he said. “In addition, more than 20% of orders for this improved dish come from new guests, despite limited marketing support to raise awareness,” said Madsen.
The launch of the menu will be accompanied by a full marketing thrust to raise awareness of the new dishes, followed by a campaign in May to deepen the commitment. The channel plans to double its investment from one year to marketing in the coming months, said Madsen.
Overall, Noodles wants to recover his expertise in pasta.
“We believe that we are the only chain of catering scale to offer a variety of expert bowls designed through the types of cooking,” said Madsen. “This is what we do, and we will do it better than anyone.”
Madsen said Noodles also solved his third -party delivery price problem, which led to the fall in sales in the third quarter of last year. A revised price and promotion strategy has increased two-digit traffic through this channel, he said.
His confidence was reflected in the channel’s advice for the year. The company is expecting sales growth in comparable stores in the middle of figures, with revenues between 503 and $ 512 million and two new restaurant openings.
However, the chain of 463 units closed six sub-performative company units in the fourth quarter, and three franchise units also closed, as part of an ongoing examination of the portfolio.
In 2025, 12 to 15 other restaurants in the sub-performative company should close, as well as four other franchise locations. Two company units should open.
Madsen said they were continuing to work with owners to determine the potential future closings on a case -by -case basis.
Noodles’ equity price dropped by more than 7% on Thursday, but then climbed in hours, which trades more than 20% to $ 1.50 per share, which was still much lower than its highest $ 2.55 weeks. The company, however, has managed to maintain its stock market courses more than $ 1 per share since the end of January after receiving a warning that it could face the radiation.
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Lisa Jennings is a veteran journalist and editor of the catering industry that covers the fast sector, independent restaurants and emerging channel concepts.
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