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The Golden Age of Drive-Thru
Drive-thru is the operational heart of the fast-food industry, as central to a brand like Taco Bell as the kitchen itself, maybe more so. According to the National Restaurant Assn., the fast-food industry will do $168 billion in sales for 2011, and about 70 percent of that will come in through drive-thru windows. The technology deployed at order stations and pick-up windows has evolved to meet that demand. Every step is measured, every movement calculated, every word scripted. Taco Bell, with more than 5,600 locations in the U.S., currently operates some of the fastest and most accurate drive-thru windows in the industry, at least according to QSR magazine’s last survey, in 2009, though for years they lagged. The system is the result of a 15-year-plus focus on the window as the core of the business. Taco Bell’s pride in moving from the bottom of the pack to near the top is also part of the reason it allowed a journalist, unsupervised by public relations staff, to work the line.
Photo by compujeramey.
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Angela Shupe on June 2nd, 2011 9:34 am
I am not surprised by those numbers. So many people seem to be in a hurry, and the drive thru industry allows them to grab food on the go in just a few minutes. I will not be surprised if the industry eventually goes automated. That would probably help speed up the process even more. This may even motivate more locations to set up their own drive thru options.
Personally, I have never liked the drive thru. I like to go inside the building to order. It’s bad enough I am probably going to order a burger with tons of calories in it, the least I can do is participate in some sort of movement before I chow it down. :-)
Jackie Stone on June 2nd, 2011 6:43 pm
One thing I want to say is that I’ve been surprised over the years at Starbucks! They have a drive-thru at the location in my town. Where I live usually, that’s almost unheard of. I can’t believe they didn’t think about it earlier. They’re probably making a killing off this little convenience!
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