Dive Brief:
- Sonic is launching a $1.99 value menu featuring several items ranging from wraps to cheeseburgers, according to a Monday press release.
- The value menu includes a newly launched Bacon Ranch Queso Wrap and Southwest Crunch Queso Wrap, along with a Quarter Pound Double Cheeseburger, Chili Cheese Coney, small tots and a 16-ounce shake, the company said.
- A Sonic spokesperson confirmed that the value menu is a permanent addition, marking a point of contrast with the limited-time deals that many other QSR chains have launched this year.
Dive Insight:
Sonic highlighted that the menu items run the gamut from snack wraps to burgers and shakes, giving it an appeal across dayparts and for a variety of consumer desires. This focus on variety, too, stands in contrast with some other QSR value promotions, like Jack in the Box’s Munchies under $4 menu, which is primarily focused on snacking.
The brand said it will continue to offer the wraps on an ongoing basis, but will also “look to regularly introduce new and seasonal flavor varieties throughout the year,” of which the two included in the value menu are the latest iterations.
Last week, Sonic added a slate of six premium beverages designed to appeal to Gen Z and younger millennial consumers. Those beverages are app-exclusive, making them more of a draw for the brand’s existing loyalists, while a value focus may draw occasional consumers who weigh pricing as a considerable factor in their choices.
“Now more than ever, guests are focused on affordable food options, but they shouldn’t have to settle for the same old, tired discounts or boring meals,” Ryan Dickerson, Sonic’s CMO, said in the press release.
The 2024 value arms race has heated up in recent weeks, including McDonald’s formal announcement of $5 meal deals and Taco Bell’s $7 Luxe Box. Sonic offers a variety of other value options, including half-priced cheeseburgers and slushes for app members.
