The end is near for Del Taco Restaurants Inc.’s Buck & Under value menu as it looks to reinvigorate the category.
President and CEO John D. Cappasola told investors at the ICR Conference this week the chain will retire the seven-year-old set-up whose “appeal and kind of overall value isn’t quite what it once was” as the operator has bolstered its mid-tier and premium items over the last 18 months.
A new “value platform” is coming, he said, with a “modest check and margin” impact. On the premium side, Del Taco will begin offering fresh guacamole this year. Product innovation and digital efforts will continue, the CEO said.
Del Taco (Nasdaq: TACO) traded recently at a $297 million market cap, down 22% over the past year, and is the sixth-largest OC-based restaurant chain with about $810 million in annual systemwide sales, up 3% year-over-year.
