From maybe 10 ft away , the Naked Chicken Chalupa looks like a regular taco . The crispy plate might be a minuscule thickheaded than normal , but the crown of shredded cabbage and diced tomato pass on it a distinct gentle wind of quasi - Mexican legitimacy . Get a little close , though , and you ’ll see that the taco shell is not a shell at all : it ’s a piece of fried poulet . flatten , folded into a cardboard holster , and debase down with taco fixings , it beckon your taste buds like a mythological essence - siren strangle in avocado - spread sauce .
I ’m at Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine , California , in a way called the Innovation Forum . It ’s coiffure up like a small college lecture hall , with a few course of sports stadium - style seating at the back and a retentive counter lined with stools at the front . I ’m hunched over suppose comeback with not one , but two Taco Bell public relations minister plenipotentiary , eyeball a tray of outre foodstuffs . I ’m running my mouth at top focal ratio , take all kinds of questions about these things in front of me , when publicist Alec Boyle , a slight , attractive woman with brown hair and a blindingly white smile , cuts me off gently .
" Before we go any further , I think you should try it , " she enounce .
JASON HOFFMAN/THRILLIST
Up close , the Naked Chicken Chalupa , Taco Bell ’s modish stunt food , looks like a jumbo breaded clam stuffed with lawn clippings , but , as I drum it into my cram - fix , I witness it ’s surprisingly light and crispy . Rob Poetsch , Taco Bell ’s manager of public recounting , sits two chairwoman aside from me , typing intently on his laptop computer . It ’s unclear if this typing has anything to do with my presence here , my reaction to the Naked Chicken Chalupa , or the avocado - spread sauce smeared across my face .
I chase the Chalupa with one of those Doritos Locos Tacos you ’ve likely heard about . If you have n’t , it ’s a taco with a punishing shell made out of , well – guess . According to Bloomberg News , Taco Bell sell over a billion buck ' Charles Frederick Worth of these things in the first 20 months after their launch in 2012 . I ’m licking the orange cheese junk off my digit like an 8 - year - previous when Boyle ask if I ’d like another – or if I ’d like to hear something else . I ’m about to say yes when I remember something my female parent once tell me about being a gluttonous pig . It was something along the lines of , " Do n’t . "
The Inner Sanctum of Stunt Foods, Inc.
The Naked Chicken Chalupa is the a la mode in a argument of Taco Bell specialty items of escalating perverseness , admit the Crunchwrap ( a variety of multi - layered quesadilla with a crispy tortilla shell ) , the recently introduced Quesalupa ( a wetback - shaped Hot Pocket stuff with dethaw tall mallow and your selection of meat or beans ) , and – most famously – the Doritos Locos Taco . All these Malva sylvestris - encrusted curiosities were bear and lift right here in Irvine – around 30 sea mile from Downey , CA , where Taco Bell founder Glen Bell open his first taco shack in 1962 .
Taco Bell has to keep churn these things out , because , well , Taco Bell has to keep roil these thing out . It ’s the nature of the fast - food for thought business in 2016 – an Ouroboros of innovation . " It ’s [ not ] like it was in the yesteryear , where you innovate and grow your dealings significantly , " says Darren Tristano , president of Technomic , a nutrient services research and consulting firm . Today , company are forced to give up an dateless string of social sensitive - friendly stunt foods just to keep the customer they have . " In parliamentary law to rest relevant , you have to innovate , " Tristano says .
By that criterion , Taco Bell is one of the most relevant company going . Melissa Friebe , VP of Taco Bell ’s Insights Lab – a form of taco think tank plaster with colorful Post - it notes , where all the number and nutrient concepts are , well , crunched – recognise that stunt foods have become the law of the ground . " It ’s what consumers anticipate of us , " she suppose . Each item has to be weird and outrageous and interesting . " If it ’s not , " she read , " it wo n’t knead . "
JASON HOFFMAN/THRILLIST
This Poor Bastard Had to Eat 2,000 Taco Shells
The Naked Chicken Chalupa began its life history where all these thing do : in the Test Kitchen three floors down from the Insights Lab . On a late Friday good afternoon , I ’m escort there by my Taco Bell handlers Boyle and Poetsch . On the way down , Poetsch open a door to reveal a narrow elbow room with a long counter and a row of death chair partition off into low peepshow - style booths . Each post is equipped with a video photographic camera through which Taco Bell can record the reaction and facial expression of people trying out TB ’s latest initiation . It ’s called the " Sensory Panel , " and it ’s one of the former proving grounds for all of Taco Bell ’s stunt food .
One code - lock room access later , we ’re in the Test Kitchen , a gleaming stainless - blade wetback workshop where it smell like – surprise ! – Taco Bell . Here I meet Senior Marketing Manager Kat Garcia , who has form for the company on and off since the ' XC and invented the Double Decker Taco , which remains onTaco Bell ’s fare . I ’m also acquaint to Product Development Manager Steve Gomez .
With a shave skull , gym physique , and desktop in food for thought scientific discipline , Gomez is the guy who makes Taco Bell ’s stunt - food for thought concepts into reality . Working nearly with Garcia , he has develop the Doritos Locos Taco , the Quesalupa , and , most recently , the Naked Chicken Chalupa . He says the turnaround time on most product melodic theme is six to nine months , though the Doritos Locos Taco assume three yr and untold variations based on approximately 30 to 40 formula . When I ask Gomez to estimate how many DLTs he had to eat during those years , he just starts laughing . " If I read a couple thousand shells , it in all likelihood sounds like I ’m exaggerating , " he says . " I ’ve had way , waytoo many shell . I ’ve had my quota for life . "
JASON HOFFMAN/THRILLIST
With Taco Bell always cranking out new menu items , I lead off wonder how many never make it out of Irvine . " To give you an idea , I drop a line 50 construct melodic theme a month , " Garcia says . " We do 300 - 500 mind a twelvemonth in the draught phase . pick that down to maybe 20 or 30 idea that actually get in - market . A mess of things get tossed away . "
The Fried Chicken Ice Cream Cone and Other Casualties
Gomez has a dream . He calls it the Burger Burrito , which in all probability does n’t need much explaining , but we ’ll let him explain it anyway : " I wanna get the flavor of an In - N - Out burger into a burrito . You just need the right-hand background beef with the right topping and mayhap some Mexican - inspired Thousand Island . It got a lot of adhesive friction here at first , but when I started to talk to leadership about it , I kept hitting a wall . "
( Throughout our talk , Garcia and Gomez systematically refer to " leading , " often glancing up and even pointing toward the heavens – or at least the top floors of HQ – where suits with unfathomable pay grade progeny decrees about what the Taco Bell experience should entail . )
Gomez say the Burger Burrito did n’t happen because " that ’s what the Warren Burger boy are for , " referring to the company ruling the fast - food burger landscape . " We had other theme to go after , so we did n’t inevitably have to put our twist on a burger , " he articulate . " Even though it savour corking . " Never say never , though . The Burger Burrito could very well materialise in the not - so - distant future . " I ’ve been here long enough – 10 years – to know that theme certainlydocome back , " Gomez explains . " You put a small turn , a little turn on it , and it exit forward . Even trends or consumer penury could be dissimilar at some point . It could absolutely happen . "
Garcia ’s best-loved task is somewhat further abroad . " You ’re gon na laugh at me , but I have this compulsion with cones – like Methedrine pick cones – but with crispy chicken [ or else of ice cream ] , " she state . " I wanna have this cone that ’s pressed in the waffle iron and has a maple - buttered flavor and then you have crispy chicken on the interior with some variety of cattle ranch grooming . I ca n’t get the cone thought past leadership , but now my boss is on maternity leave , so I ’m gon na hear again . "
Friebe had previously told me about a meatball burrito and a quesadilla overgorge with mac & cheese as promising cheeseparing - misses , but when I impart up the meatball concept in the Test Kitchen , Gomez starts chuckling . " I ’m just gon na put it out there : the idea of ' balls ' is , well – when you think of what the ad might be , no matter how tasty or delicious this affair is , it ’s just not gon na ferment , " he pronounce .
food for thought on a stick is another idea that has come up repeatedly at Taco Bell " ideation " session , but Gomez is have none of that one either . " It ’s fishy because a flock of these theme are probably things you ’ve had at county fairs , like pith on a joystick – orWhat if we had a stick and the peg was edible and it had some kind of intellectual nourishment on it ? " Gomez laughs . " But then you start to enquire : what ’s really cracking about that ? Is it because it ’s portable ? You have to involve those doubt . "
But hold off , I inquire , what would the eatable marijuana cigarette be made out of ?
Gomez express mirth : " I ’m trusted some sort of Indian corn tortilla . "
But is n’t the control stick idea kind of … phallic ?
" I intend , if you ’ve get a job with balls , " I jeopardize .
More laugh . " Again , it ’s nothing we ’ve ever really take seriously . "
Which Brings Us to the Dawn of Chicken Smut
Friebe points to the Crunchwrap , launched in 2005 , as a sort of bellwether for Taco Bell ’s internal mentation . " In some ways , a Crunchwrap is innovation on the greaser because it ’s everything you love about a wetback , in tortilla form . It was a way to remind us how much we can introduce off our iconic form . It opens up your mind to : what else can you make into a wetback shell ? "
The answer , of course , is fried Gallus gallus .
The Naked Chicken Chalupa was ab initio conceived by Heather Mottershaw , Taco Bell ’s senior theatre director of quality assurance and foundation . harmonize to Gomez , she just blunder it out one Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . " She state , ' Steve , what if we made a taco out of chicken Milanese ? ' " he recall . " The first thing I thought was , That ’s a really bad melodic theme . But I thought more about it , and I began to connect the superman – it ’s got ta be coated ; it ’s got ta be fried ; it ’s bugger off ta have the right-hand seasoner – it ca n’t try like KFC – and you got ta be able to fold it . All these thing are run short through my mind and we bulge out prototyping . " It also made sensation from a marketing standpoint . " Crispy chicken is a huge carte du jour gap and a grown opportunity , " Garcia state .
Like many prototypes , the original incarnation of the Naked Chicken Chalupa – which did n’t have an official name at that early leg – did n’t resemble the one I just ate . Gomez and his team experimented with different app and flavors until they find a winner . Meanwhile , colleagues were n’t sell on the thought . " People would say , ' I do n’t know , you guys . It ’s kinda unknown . I do n’t really get it , ' " Garcia state . " It took a bit of time , but we sort of went around the organization , and tucked it into a [ consumer ] test and got these amazing scores back . Finally , leadership assay it and they loved it . "
In the end , the Naked Chicken Chalupa was in maturation for two years . The final task was christening it . " We tried a ton of different names , " Garcia recalls . " I want to call it the ' Ultimate Chicken Chalupa , ' but my names almost never get pick . Then we tried something with ' Protein Style . ' " When that one shockingly failed to notice leverage , they tie upon the fact that " naked " in Mexican food mean " no eggshell , " and buy the farm with Naked Chicken Chalupa .
When I suggest they could ’ve generated a decent online buzz with the name " Topless Chicken Chalupa , " my estimation is greeted with polite laugh . I describe the print advertizement : a exposure of a whole uncooked chicken with a discarded two-piece top on the earth next to it .
More cultivated laugher .
" OK , what about Full - Frontal Chicken Chalupa ? " I say . " The ad could be an uncooked poulet with a black bar across its breast that say ' XXX . ' "
Uneasy laughter , combined with what I feel is a strong desire for me to close up .
The Kansas City Challenge
As of this writing , the Naked Chicken Chalupa is being given a test run at about 30 Taco Bells in the Kansas City domain . When Garcia distinguish the point of purchase advertising , it turn out my rejected pitch were pretty close : " Imagine this gorgeous beauty shot of a chicken in this big , huge taco and the back end of it is pixelated . It ’s kind of wink - jiffy , " she enunciate , before sum , " We realise this is very unlike . "
For every new product mental test , Taco Bell gauge a ratio of likes to dislikes . Gomez and Garcia say they expect seven or eight out of every 10 mass who tell the Naked Chicken Chalupa in Kansas City to revel it . " And the feedback has been like that so far , " Garcia says . " We ’ll go back after the trial is complete , receive those consumers in a inquiry report , and ask them what they loved about it . "
As for the percentage of Kansas City customers in reality giving the NCC a shot in the first lieu ? " I ’m gon na guess one in eight people are order this when they come in , " Garcia speculation . " Maybe higher . With the DLT , it was one in three . The [ original ] chalupa was one in five . "
If the NCC catches on in Kansas City , Taco Bell plans to launch it nationally next twelvemonth . Though it ’s only been in testing for a few hebdomad , Garcia thinks it ’s a certain matter . " We ’re doing this , " she enthuse . " This is a bang . "
Four day after visit TB headquarters , I get an electronic mail from Boyle saying that Garcia ’s assessment was " a bit premature . " More data is need before they make the final decision , she tell , but it ’s looking good .
The “Weirdest” One Yet
Let ’s say the NCC passes its perceptiveness - trial and start home . What kind of numbers would it have to post to become a permanent fare item ? " That ’s a bigger question , " Garcia tell . " The DLT stayed because it added an entire novel stratum to our business . We were n’t steal citizenry who would normally buy the Crunchy Taco . They were buy it in addition to . That ’s why it was desirable of being on permanently . Something like [ the NCC ] is a little more of a novelty . And it ’s not the wanton thing to make . The juice might not be worth the hug in the long draw in terms of product and the monetary value of operations . "
( It ’s deserving noting that Tristano dispute Garcia ’s claim : " Although [ the DLT ] sold over a billion dollars , it cannibalized sales of their other products , " he say . " They did n’t do a billion more than they usually do . " )
Because the Naked Chicken Chalupa will be more expensive – $ 2.99 to the DLT ’s $ 1.49 ( or $ 1.89 for the DLT Supreme ) – the NCC might have to be importantly more successful than the DLT to become a lasting menu fixture . Tristano , for one , does n’t see it happening . " I do n’t experience that it will be as successful , " he says . " But this is going to keep Taco Bell in a posture where the consumer sees them bringing new , exciting ware to the tabular array . And that ’s the credit and time value that they ’re run short to get from place this merchandise on their menu . "
For now , the luck of the Naked Chicken Chalupa remains nameless . Garcia admit that it ’s " probably our weirdest " menu token yet . And she ’s right , of track : the Naked Chicken Chalupaisweird . Even in its admittedly scrumptious mart - examination form , it might be a baffling sell for Taco Bell customers . Gomez fully acknowledge this . " No one ’s ever turned crispy chicken into a greaser shell before , " he enounce . " I secernate multitude , ' I have a go at it it ’s unearthly , but you got ta stress it because it ’s awe-inspiring . ' "
If it does n’t work , there ’s always the Meatball Burrito . Or the Burger Burrito . Or that ice cream conoid lug with chicken . Or – comfortably yet – all three , joined in gloopy , gluttonous , vaguely pornographic wedlock .
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