Wendy’s sells new fries with potato skin, sea salt
(AP) NEW YORK – With an eye toward appealing to foodies, Wendy’s is remaking its fries with Russett potatoes, leaving the skin on and sprinkling sea salt on top.
The fast-food chain has been changing its menu to focus on “real” ingredients to win more fans.
The first move in the strategy was a new line of salads such as Apple Pecan Chicken in the summer. Now, the fries, which first appear on Thursday and roll out over the next two weeks. This is the first major overhaul of the 41-year-old company’s fries, although it has adjusted the recipe in the past.
The new fries are slightly slimmer than the old ones, and crispier because they’re smaller. They will have more salt, a medium size fry goes from 350 milligrams to 500 milligrams, and calories add 10 to 420. The selling price will not change, ranging from 99 cents to about $2. The fries will still come to stores frozen.
Wendy’s is planning a marketing push, including national television ads airing later this month, to highlight the changes.
Look, if I wanted “natural” fries I’d eat at Five Guys and a Burger. I like Wendy’s “unnatural” fries, though I realize I’m sort of in the minority—I always think of Wendy’s as the Rodney Dangerfield of fast food. I could be wrong about that, but in my experience, most of the people in my immediate circle of acquaintances usually make a scrunchy face when I suggest it for lunch.
The best part of this article, however, is this little tidbit: “People want more natural foods and they want to know where they come from, he said. Having the skin on is a way to remind people that fries come from potatoes, he said.” That’s reassuring, because I constantly have to jog my memory as to what French fries are made of.
In related news—in case you need a prompt—hamburgers are not good for you, as this list of the “The Worst Burgers in America” laboriously points out.
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