Del Taco
963917
225809245
2008-07-15T14:37:49Z
TexasAndroid
271376
Removed category "Companies based in Orange County, California"; Quick-adding category "Companies based in Lake Forest, California" (using [[WP:HOTCAT|HotCat]])
{{Infobox Company
| company_name = Del Taco
| company_logo = [[Image:Del Taco logo.svg|220px|center]]
| vector_logo =
| company_type = [[Subsidiary]]
| genre =
| foundation = [[1961]] in [[Yermo, California]]
| founder = Ed Hackbarth and David Jameson
| location_city = Lake Forest, California
| location_country = United States of America
| location =
| origins =
| key_people =
| area_served =
| industry = [[Fast-food]]
| products =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees =
| parent = Sagittarius Brands
| divisions =
| subsid =
| CEO = Shirlene Lopez
| slogan = "Feed the Beast"
| homepage =
| dissolved =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Del Taco''' is a chain of North American fast-food restaurants specializing in [[Mexican]]-style offerings, as well as [[United States|American]] foods such as burgers, fries, and shakes. Del Taco is led by President Shirlene Lopez, and has its headquarters in the city of [[Lake Forest, California|Lake Forest]], [[California]]. Their primary rival is [[Taco Bell]], along with [[McDonald's]], [[Burger King]], and [[Carl's Jr.]].
==History==
===1960s===
Originally named '''Casa Del Taco''' (House of the Taco), the first Del Taco restaurant was founded in [[Yermo, California|Yermo]], [[California]] in 1961 by Ed Hackbarth. On the restaurant’s first official day of business, Del Taco made $169.<ref name="Del Taco History from deltaco.com">[http://www.deltaco.com/page11.html Del Taco History]</ref> By 1964, Hackbarth partnered with real estate broker David Jameson. Success of the first restaurant led to three in [[Barstow, California|Barstow]] and a fourth restaurant in [[Corona, California|Corona]] (the first such Del Taco with a drive-thru window). Dick Naugles, who installed the kitchen equipment in the Corona store, was impressed by the design and joined Hackbarth and Jameson in the fledgling business. In 1966, the trio founded Red-E-Food Systems, Inc. with the idea of franchising the Casa Del Taco brand.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com">[https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Del-Taco-Inc-Company-History.html Del Taco History]</ref> That same year, the original Del Taco sun logo was created and in 1967, Del Taco introduced their famous bean and cheese burrito with green or red sauce to their menu.<ref name="Del Taco History from deltaco.com" /> Before long, the restaurants were being founded throughout Southern California.
===1970s===
By the 1970s, Del Taco became a franchise of change. Naugles left the company early in the decade to start his own Mexican fast food chain, [[Naugles]]. In 1973, the company dropped “Casa” from its name and Red-E-Food Systems became Del Taco, Inc. By that time, the company was enjoying a remarkable growth spurt; during one period, they were opening a new restaurant every month. However, in 1976, Hackbarth and Jameson sold Del Taco to a group of investors. The new owners sold the exclusive rights to use and develop the Del Taco name throughout the United States (excluding California; [[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]], [[Oregon]]; and [[Yuma, Arizona|Yuma]], [[Arizona]]) to the W.R. Grace & Company. Grace, primarily a chemicals company, founded a new company, Del Taco Restaurants Inc. of [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], [[Texas]], and a new subsidiary, DTG Inc., to oversee the various fast food chains it was acquiring.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" /> Nonetheless, the franchise continued to expand. In 1977, there were 50 Del Taco restaurants. A year later in 1978, there were 100. As Del Taco expanded, so did their menu. They included new items such as the Bun Taco, quesadillas, and ice cream sundaes.<ref name="Del Taco History from deltaco.com" />
===1980s===
In 1981, the ''[[New York Times]]'' reported that competition between Del Taco and Taco Bell was “very intense.” However, that rivalry was a mismatch, as Del Taco had roughly 350 restaurants (still located almost exclusively to California) in comparison to Taco Bell’s 1,400 plus restaurants throughout the [[United States of America|U.S.A.]], at the time. Likewise, Taco Bell easily outstripped Del Taco in the perception of customers and the amount of money spent on ads (Taco Bell spent $22 million on television ads, whereas Del Taco spent $2.5 million, mainly on radio ads). In the meantime, though, Del Taco slowly expanded to roughly 200 restaurants by late 1987.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
In February 1988, Del Taco’s 202 restaurants merged with the 171 Naugles’ Mexican fast food outlets owned by one-time Del Taco owner Dick Naugles. Anwar Soliman was the man behind the move and was, ironically, the mastermind behind the purchase of the rights to expand Del Taco throughout the United States back in 1977.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" /> In addition, the new Del Taco absorbed some of the Naugles menu, including the “Macho” items of current-day Del Taco. With the merger, Del Taco increased in size, and spread as far as [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Missouri]]. The 1980s also brought change in the operation, as Del Taco began to stay open all night long to serve the growing needs of a 24 hour community.<ref name="Del Taco History from deltaco.com" />
===1990s===
In 1990, Kevin K. Moriarty joined Del Taco as the new CEO, soon becoming the owner of the brand in conjunction with his management team. His team launched new efforts to grow the brand’s image while improving the total customer experience, setting the stage for extreme growth.<ref name="Del Taco History from deltaco.com" />
In 1992, Del Taco launched a $14 million program to redesign its restaurant exteriors, kitchens, and corporate logo. The company presented its Concept 2000 restaurant design and in August 1992 introduced its new logo. In place of the old orange and blue sunset, there was a yellow sun that rose over green mountains against a red background; these colors represented the primary ingredients of Del Taco food: [[cheese]], [[lettuce]], and [[tomatoes]]. Later that year, Del Taco executives announced far-reaching plans to expand the chain to 500 stores by 1995 and to add another 225 by 2000. The first new markets it set its sights on were [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]]; St. Louis, Missouri; and the Northeast Corridor.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
1993 featured Del Taco in a financial quagmire. They filed for protection under Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which puzzled many observers. In spite of the fact that renovations were made to keep Del Taco profitable, the company continued to pay rent on several unprofitable outlets that had already been closed. They also attempted to negotiate lease reductions on a number of other high cost sites. To make matters worse, Del Taco had been hit a $3 million lawsuit from a former supplier, which was later settled out of court.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
In the five years from 1994 through 1998, Del Taco saw their company decrease and (eventually) increase in size. Though the company signed a deal to open 15 franchise stores in the [[Northeast]] with many more in the [[Southeast]], the chain was nowhere near the goals publicized years earlier. In 1995, Del Taco (hurt by the closing of numerous unprofitable units) had only 300 stores, instead of growing to 500 stores. However, the chain began to prosper in 1997, when their total sales had reached an estimated $250 million. By December 1998, Del Taco boasted 325 stores in twelve states and President Kevin Moriarty predicted that the company would be debt-free by 2002.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
===2000s===
In 2000, Del Taco had 372 stores located in ten states. That same year, the average Del Taco made $927,000 in sales, one of the tops in the fast food industry, and beat out giant rival Taco Bell by almost $10,000 per store. Also that year, an important deal was signed with the Compass Group PLC that enabled Del Taco stores to open on military bases. The first to do business was the store at Patuxent River Naval Air Station at Maryland in early 2001. Other Del Tacos were planned for bases in Puerto Rico, Naples, and Italy.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
In 2001, ''Nation's Restaurant News'' reported that Del Taco had the largest average sales volume per store of any chain in the sandwich category, a remarkable achievement for a Mexican food chain, which traditionally ranked low in average sales.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
In February 2002, a group of former Del Taco employees, all of whom were black, brought a discrimination suit against the chain. The group claimed that while working at Del Taco in the [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] area, they had suffered verbal abuse, had been passed over for promotions in favor of Hispanic workers, and were being fired and replaced by illegal immigrants. The case had not been settled.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
However, in an effort to raise its public profile in a positive light, Del Taco launched a sports-sponsorship program with teams in eight states, including the [[Anaheim Ducks|Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]] and [[Phoenix Coyotes]] hockey teams, basketball’s [[Los Angeles Clippers]] and [[Utah Jazz]], the [[University of Nevada at Las Vegas]]’s football and basketball teams, and several minor league hockey and baseball teams. The deal placed the Del Taco logo on signs, drink cups, and special promotional items at the stadiums of the partner teams. It paid off as, in 2003, Del Taco announced that their restaurants topped $1 million per store in average annual sales, which was more remarkable considering that other stores, notably McDonald’s and Carl’s Jr., featured a decrease in annual sales.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
In 2006, a private [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Tennessee]] based holding named Sagittarius Brands, LLC, which is also the parent company of Captain D’s Seafood, purchased Del Taco.
In January 2008, Del Taco announced the opening of its 500th restaurant in [[Burbank, California|Burbank]], California.<ref>[http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/news/story.phtml?id=5946 Del Taco History]</ref> In April of that year, Del Taco unveiled their new Del Inferno hot sauce, made with ancho chili peppers.
==Demographics==
The chain is concentrated in 17 states in the U.S.A.. Though nearly half of the states that contain a Del Taco are east of Texas (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin), the vast majority of the restaurants are located on the West Coast (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) with Las Vegas, Nevada having the most Del Tacos of any one city<ref>[http://www.deltaco.com/index.php?page=20&state=NV Del Taco Demographics]</ref> and California having the most Del Tacos of any one state by far.<ref>[http://www.deltaco.com/index.php?page=20&state=CA Del Taco Demographics]</ref>
==Products==
Unlike most fast food restaurants, Del Taco specializes in serving two different types of food: Mexican and (White) European-American. Their standard menu contains (among other things) tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, crinkle cut fries, Double Del Cheeseburgers, shakes, and breakfast burritos.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
==Marketing==
The first known mascot of Del Taco was a character of the same name used from 1999 through 2000. Albeit popular, Del Taco (the company) was hit by a lawsuit from Zorro Productions, Inc. and Tristar Pictures, Inc., who claimed that the “Del Taco” character – masked and costumed in black – infringed on their rights to the trademark Zorro figure. Del Taco settled the suit in January 2000, agreeing to make changes to the Del Taco character, but soon discontinued the ad campaign altogether.<ref name="Del Taco History from fundinguniverse.com" />
In its place, from 2000 through early 2007, Del Taco used [[Gregg Binkley]] to play '''Dan''' in their commercials. Dan, a clumsy marketing spokesman for Del Taco, was famous for his antics during their commercials. Among other things, Dan destroyed cars, broke hockey-rink glass, and mistakenly held a sales event at a nude beach, all while promoting a specific item for Del Taco.<ref>[http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/homepage/article_1596414.php Del Taco Marketing]</ref>
Currently, Del Taco employs an anonymous actor to play '''"The Beast"''' in their commercials. "The Beast", a personification of hunger, typically stands next to a customer and persuades him to order a particular item (or particular items) so that they can "feed the beast" (which is Del Taco's slogan). "The Beast" made his debut in August 2007<ref>[http://fastfood.freedomblogging.com/2007/08/05/del-taco-gets-hairy-with-beastly-ad/ Del Taco Marketing]</ref><ref>[http://tiedyedbrainrays.typepad.com/blog/2007/08/feed-the-beast.html Del Taco Marketing]</ref> promoting Del Taco's improved Chicken Soft Taco. Since then, he has endorsed the Crispy Fish Taco<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIGfeJaiMZ8 Del Taco Marketing]</ref>, the improved Chicken Quesadilla (with 50% more chicken)<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC6CEFPomU0 Del Taco Marketing]</ref>, and Del’s Deal (2 ½ pound bean and cheese burritos, a regular crunchy taco, and a small drink for $2.99).<ref>[http://www.deltaco.com/page1.html Del Taco Marketing]</ref>
==Infamous Del Taco Scam==
On [[February 19]], [[2008]], Del Taco was the target of a scam which was recorded via video camera and subsequently released on [[YouTube]]. The culprit, 32-year-old Robert Echeverria, along with his two friends (18-years-old Brian Fawcett and Ian Roman), recorded the scam in which he phoned in a complaint to a Del Taco in [[Rialto, California|Rialto]], [[California]]. Echeverria claimed to be a CEO named “Robert Kennedy” who had previously talked to the store’s manager and corporate officer about some unwanted sour cream and the lack of a receipt in a previous order. After the call, Fawcett went into the restaurant to claim fifteen dollars worth of food (two chicken quesadillas, seven tacos, two sodas, and a large order of fries). The video ended with all three men feasting and laughing about their heist.<ref name="Infamous Del Taco Scam from cbs13.com">[http://cbs13.com/watercooler/del.taco.scam.2.681031.html Infamous Del Taco Scam]</ref> Three days later, the video was uploaded on YouTube.<ref>[http://youtube.com/watch?v=mgJzEmOioho Infamous Del Taco Scam]</ref> Within a month of the video’s release, more than 20,000 people watched the three men easily scamming the fast food restaurant. However, one of the people who saw the video was a Rialto resident, who called the Rialto police to report the crime. Echeverria was soon arrested for felony commercial burglary, and sentenced to thirty days in jail, three years of probation, and a ban from the Rialto Del Taco restaurant.<ref name="Infamous Del Taco Scam from cbs13.com" />
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External Links==
*[http://www.deltaco.com Del Taco official site]
*[http://www.allnightlongbaby.com 'All Night Long, Baby', a promotional site]
[[Category:Fast-food chains of the United States]]
[[Category:Fast-food Mexican restaurants]]
[[Category:Regional restaurant chains]]
[[Category:Restaurants in California]]
[[Category:Companies based in Lake Forest, California]]
[[de:Del Taco]]