Why every fast-food chain now has a specialty drink menu

“Let’s start selling colorful, flavored drinks” = the “let’s start a podcast” of the fast-food world. Chains are increasingly adding high-margin drinks to their menus in a bid to appeal to younger consumers.

• Chick-fil-A offers seasonal Pineapple Dragonfruit drinks.
• Wendy’s current lemonade lineup includes blueberry pomegranate and pineapple mango flavors.
• Yum Brands’ Taco Bell installed a beverage concept called Live Mas Café inside one of its California locations.
• McDonald’s is in its second year of testing CosMc’s, its drinks-focused spinoff (menu above).

The chase for a Gen Z sales bump

Data shows the last-letter generation comes from the most diverse backgrounds and are the most open to new flavors. They’re also more likely to indulge in “little treat” culture, CNBC reports. Wendy’s craft lemonades “over-[index] with Hispanic consumers and Gen Z,” the chain’s US Chief Marketing Officer Lindsay Radkoski said at a recent investor event.

Looking ahead…Wendy’s wants to make inroads with the ~30% of its customers that don’t add a drink to their order, while Taco Bell is aiming to build a $5 billion beverage business by 2030. And competition should be honey badger-level fierce. Smaller beverage chains Swig, 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee, and Gong Cha are among the 10 fastest-growing quick-service restaurant chains by sales, according to restaurant market research firm Technomic.