TacoTime Owners Value Opportunity to Help Drive Menu Testing

Franchisee feedback helps brand maintain a fresh, delicious menu that stands out in the Mexican food segment

It’s common for a national food brand to have a corporate chef who perfects menu items in a test kitchen before a national rollout. It’s not common, however, for franchise owners to influence menu changes. That influence is a hallmark of TacoTime® Mexican food franchise corporate culture — they value owner feedback in every area, including menu testing. When entrepreneurs join the TacoTime family of franchisees, they join a collaborative network of owners and corporate management from Kahala Brands™ that strives to make the brand a consumer favorite for another 50 years.

The opportunity to drive a positive change system-wide has meant a lot to Denise and Lee Staley, longtime owners of five TacoTime franchise locations in Wyoming and members of the TacoTime Franchise Advisory Council. The Staleys have been owners for more than 25 years and have seen the positive impact their feedback has made on core elements of the brand, such as the menu.

“We have been allowed to be in the decision-making process as extensively as we’ve wanted to be,” Denise Staley says. “The same is true for all the owners. We have been able to look at new products and provide feedback. What we have to say is taken very seriously, and that has helped all of us because we can get behind an idea that we think will work — or explain why we think it might not.”

Owners are actively engaged in the menu process

Because TacoTime Mexican food franchise owners are actively engaged with the R&D, marketing and other national teams, they’re always looking for new ideas to make the brand better. That can be anything from sharing customer recommendations for new menu items to formulating their own revenue-boosting and brand-equity-building concepts.

“We work with the corporate chef; we test new items in our stores; we work on the promotional calendar,” Staley says. “All these things are huge because they keep us engaged with what’s happening with TacoTime. This is not a business where you buy a franchise and then are just told what to sell and how much to sell it for. That is a very big deal for us, because it keeps us invested in making the food — and the customer experience — better all the time.”

TacoTime is ready for the spotlight. With more than 260 locations in the United States and Canada, the Mexican food franchise is ready to break out of its home turf in the Pacific Northwest and hit the national stage. TacoTime is looking for entrepreneurs who are passionate about bringing authentic and affordable Mexican food to their communities. TacoTime is led by a veteran franchise team and dedicated brand support team as part of the Kahala Brands™ family.