IHOP today announced the largest menu evolution in its 65-plus-year history will be available nationwide starting April 3. Notably, this news comes on the heels of several menu moves made by the company throughout the past five years – from its foray into burgers in 2018 to its pandemic-induced menu simplification in 2020 to the addition of burritos and bowls in 2021 to its “Choice” menu last year that encouraged customization.
What’s new this time? Consider it a culmination of all those things.
“This is the largest innovation we’ve done and is part of the journey we’ve been on that has been guided by years of insights gained from guest research,” IHOP CMO Kieran Donahue said in a recent interview. “What you’ll see with this menu is us elevating our offerings with quality ingredients that our customers are asking for. You’ll see us not only continuing to innovate and lead in the breakfast space, but also carrying that across other dayparts. It has taken a couple of years to make everything come together the way we wanted it to.”
What is “coming together” is simply more offerings throughout all dayparts as requested by IHOP’s most loyal customers. IHOP’s menu will now feature a line of Eggs Benedicts, for instance, from classic ham to veggie to spicy poblano.
“We are a breakfast leader and that means we need to have Eggs Benedict on the menu, and we brought it back in a big way with several versions and a proprietary hickory smoked bacon that we turned into a bourbon bacon jam,” Donahue said. “Our guests are the ones who have been requesting Eggs Benedict, and all of this, and that’s where we’re taking our cue from.”
Other menu additions include:
- Sweet and Savory Crepes, available all day with flavors such as Cinnamon Bun, Fresh Berry and Chicken Pesto.
- Cinna-A-Stack pancakes. This option was removed from the national menu about six years ago, according to a Change.org petition, and has been requested by customers across the country every day since, Donahue said.
- Ultimate Steakburgers, upgraded to include a new four-cheese crisp, made with sharp cheddar, Swiss, fontal and gruyere, as well as bourbon bacon jam.
- Fish and Shrimp, served with fries, tartar sauce and a lemon wedge.
- Fresh Berry and Chopped Chicken Salads.
- New beverages including mango iced tea and strawberry lemonade splashers.
Donahue noted most of the innovation around this menu is focused on IHOP’s core items, which allows IHOP to be more efficient.
“LTOs are important and they’re not going away, but we can take some of that energy from LTOs and put it into our core menu because that’s what our guests order most,” she said.
That efficiency continues to be a priority three years after the pandemic complicated things by shifting much of the business off-premises. Donahue said that shift meant creating more portable items, such as bowls, burritos and wraps. It also meant simplifying the menu to keep operations consistent despite additional channels coming into play. During the first two years of Covid, for instance, IHOP trimmed its menu by about 30%. Today’s menu announcement brings back about half of that – an intentionally gradual build back to both meet consumer demands and keep operations humming.
“The menu is still about 15% smaller than it was prior to the pandemic because we’re still in a place where we’re working with our franchisees to manage changes. They’ve been very involved in this menu and the in-restaurant training before the menu goes live and that is why we have the confidence to do this,” Donahue said. “We’re always looking at efficiencies. It’s why we work so closely with franchisees and do what we call a shakedown. The process helps us edit things sometimes and, if appropriate, make adjustments.”
IHOP continues to invest in its technology, marketing, and training to support this menu evolution. Its loyalty program is part of that marketing investment. Launched less than a year ago, the program finished 2022 with about 4.4 million members – about 2 million more than the company forecasted, Donahue said.
“The good news is that shows people love IHOP. And we love that we can have a close relationship with them and continue to learn from them,” she said. “It’s important for us as a 65-year-old brand to recognize that our guests lead the path for us. They’re why we have a new loyalty program, why we have a new brand campaign, why we’re doing everything we’re doing. Our focus is to keep our mind and innovation where the guest is leading us.”
During the company’s Q4 earnings call on March 1, IHOP experienced an increase of 2% in sales growth for the quarter and full year comp sales for 2022 grew by 5.8%.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]