December 19, 2005
Hardee's Enters Entrée Salad Arena with Hot Offering
ST. LOUIS – December 19, 2005 – Famous for its line of high-quality, 100 percent Angus beef Thickburgers, Hardee's today announced the introduction of a new entrée salad good enough to join its menu, the Red Burrito Taco Salad. Similar to Thickburgers, the quality of the hearty new entrée salad is on par with those found in sit-down restaurants.
The Red Burrito Taco Salad features a fresh, crispy, bowl-shaped tortilla shell filled with seasoned ground beef, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, refried beans, sour cream, hot sauce and spicy pico de gallo salsa.
"This is a delicious entrée salad that satisfied our ongoing goal of rivaling the quality of sit-down restaurant food," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Hardee's. "After testing several salad ideas at Hardee's, we found that our customers were looking for a hearty, warm entrée salad with a lot of flavor, and the Red Burrito Taco Salad filled the bill. The new menu item is actually the same one we are currently testing in several Hardee's restaurants that have been co-branded with the entire Red Burrito menu. While we developed the Red Burrito menu as a potential co-branding concept for Hardee's and it is still in the testing phase, we thought the Red Burrito name helped add authenticity to the product and, at the same time, helped raise awareness for the Red Burrito brand, which would be beneficial if we were to expand the co-branding effort in the future."
Participating Hardee's restaurants will offer the Red Burrito Taco Salad at a suggested retail price of $3.99.
Last year, Car's Jr., Hardee's sister chain in the western U.S., introduced a similar product, the Green Burrito Taco Salad, and the innovative idea to offer an individual co-branded menu item recently earned that brand recognition for creating the "Best Cross-Promotion of 2005," according to QSR magazine.
Hardee's Food Systems, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: CKR) of Carpinteria, Calif. As of the third fiscal quarter ended Nov. 7, 2005, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,163 franchised or company-owned restaurants in 43 states and in 13 countries, including 1,042 Carl's Jr. restaurants, 2,004 Hardee's restaurants and 101 La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill restaurants. For more information, or to find a Hardee's near you, go to www.ckr.com or www.hardees.com.