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Chief Executive Sean Tresvant wants Taco Bell to be more than just an iconic U.S. fast food chain.
“We have aspirations to be a top five global brand,” Tresvant told the Business Journal during a visit to the company’s Irvine headquarters.
Out of about 8,723 locations, Taco Bell counts over 7,000 restaurants, or 87%, in the U.S. The final frontier, according to the former Nike executive, is the rest of the world.
“International. We have some work to do to get to that top five level,” Tresvant said.
Taco Bell is ranked as Orange County’s largest locally based chain by systemwide sales ending December 2024 of $16.2 billion (see list, page 25).
The fast-food taco chain is already acknowledged as a “growth engine” by parent company Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM).
“As we grow the world’s most iconic restaurant brands globally, we’re confident in Taco Bell’s magic formula and its ability to remain a category of one and outperform the industry,” Yum CEO David Gibbs said in a statement.
Taco Bell recorded growth in U.S. same-store sales across all four quarters in 2024. Last year was also the first time the unit itself generated $1 billion in profit.
“We had an impressive year thanks to fans and team members, so we’re grounding our 2025 strategy around them,” Tresvant said at an investor event in March.
“We are a great quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand, but I don’t only want to be known as a great QSR brand. I want to be known as a great brand,” the CEO said. “It all starts with what the consumer wants.”
Chief Operating Officer Jason Kidd, who the Business Journal interviewed during our April visit—and before he got tapped to run operations at cross-town rival Chipotle Mexican Grill—said there’s no single lever that drives the kind of performance Taco Bell has been having over the past year.
It’s a combination of many things.
“It was good top line sales, strong operations, strong margins, really strong franchise partners,” said Kidd, adding that Taco Bell will continue that sales momentum through “transaction growth.”
Taco Bell will have to pursue growth without Kidd, who after a year at Taco Bell, will start his new COO gig at Newport Beach-based Chipotle this week (see story above).
Magic Formula to Sales Growth
Taco Bell is not just outpacing the restaurant industry; it is blowing it away with staggering sales growth.
The fast-food giant posted a 9% increase in same-store sales in the first quarter, a key metric of restaurant performance. By contrast, popular national chains such as Chipotle, Starbucks, McDonald’s and Burger King reported negative same-store sales for the same period.
Taco Bell’s sister-brand Irvine-based Habit Burger & Grill also reported a quarterly decline.
“The U.S. QSR environment remains tough, but TB is clearly outperforming in the near term, with more opportunities on the horizon, including internationally,” Jefferies analyst Andy Barish wrote in a March report.
Tresvant outlined a business growth plan through 2030 dubbed “R.I.N.G The Bell,” which stands for “relentlessly innovative next-generation growth.”
He broke down the four key pillars driving that strategy during our interview: deliver craveable content in a fast-paced social media environment, maintain strong value, be best in class digitally and push menu innovation to meet consumer demand.
“I think when we do those four things, they’re highly correlated to sales growth,” the chief executive said.
International Introduction and Expansion
Though Taco Bell has a rabid fan base in the U.S., there are a lot of global markets where “people don’t even know what Taco Bell is,” Kidd noted.
The chain counts 1,150 international restaurants as of 2024 across four key markets: the U.K., Spain, Australia and India. The goal is to increase Taco Bell’s global footprint to 3,000 restaurants outside of the U.S. by 2030.
“We believe because of the uniqueness of not only the category of Mexican food but the brand of Taco Bell, there is a long runway for us ahead starting with those four key markets,” he added.
Spain is the chain’s largest and longest standing international market. It was the first to reach 100 locations back in 2022.
“The demographic fits,” Kidd said of the chain’s Spanish success.
Taco Bell is also scouting markets in France, South Africa and Greece based on demographics.
“France is one of those markets (where) our research tells us that there is a demand for a Taco Bell product because, once again, of the demographic of teenagers and 20- and 30-somethings that will react positively to it,” Kidd said.
Last year, the company opened 347 new locations across 25 countries.
Turning Menus into Sales Generators
The chain looks to menu innovation to capture sales growth.
“Crave-worthy new product offerings have helped accelerate momentum and boost traffic,” the company said.
It is also the path to reaching higher annual average unit volumes (AUVs), according to Kidd. Taco Bell plans to increase domestic AUVs from $2.2 million to $3 million by 2030. That’s much lower than fast-food peers. McDonald’s and Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger have AUVs of $4 million and $5.4 million, respectively, according to Technomic data published last July by trade publication Restaurant Business.
To boost growth, Tresvant said it’s stepping up menu innovation.
In March, it revealed over 30 new test kitchen items in development such as the Mexican pizza empanada, queso fundido rolled chicken taquitos, poutine fries and a short rib chile relleno burrito.
Taco Bell sees menu categories like Cantina chicken and specialty beverages each reaching $5 billion in system sales by 2030. Its “cantina chicken” refers to the slow-roasted chicken recipe that launched in 2024 and is now permanently on the menu.
The company considered its chicken options successful enough to expand to related offerings such as the crispy chicken nuggets added at the end of 2024 and will permanently join the menu in 2026.
As for beverages, Taco Bell debuted a drinks-focused restaurant called Live Más Café in San Diego last November serving 30 different beverages such as specialty coffees and scratch agua frescas prepared by employees known as “Bell-ristas.”
“There’s a whole experience around ordering your beverages, seeing somebody make your beverages, getting to taste your beverages,” Tresvant said.
“Bringing more and more of that kind of innovation, you just add all those things up, plus growth, plus elevating the experience, plus team member growth—all of those things between now and 2030 is what will get us to the $3 million,” Kidd added.
The Taco Bell to Chipotle Train
When Taco Bell Chief Operating Officer Jason Kidd spoke with the Business Journal in April, he gave no hint about a huge job change.
He had only been on the job since February 2024. Previously, Kidd spent most of career at Sam’s Club where he held several leadership roles in operations, merchandising, planning and supply chain across 20 years.
A week after the interview, Chipotle Mexican Grill announced that Kidd would be joining the Newport Beach-based chain as its newest chief operating officer, starting May 19. He goes from overseeing almost 8,800 Taco Bell restaurants to nearly 3,800 at Chipotle at a time where both companies are eagerly plotting international expansions.
“Chipotle’s current efforts to build a guest obsessed culture and modernize the back of house are exciting, and I believe there’s tremendous growth ahead for this incredible brand,” Kidd said in a May 6 statement.
It’s the latest example of Irvine-based Taco Bell feeding executives to its cross-county rival.
When Brian Niccol left Taco Bell to become the chief executive at Chipotle Mexican Grill in 2018, he ended up bringing over many of his former fast-food colleagues.
Chipotle Chief Brand Officer Chris Brandt and Vice President, Brand Marketing Stephanie Perdue joined Chipotle the same year as Niccol started in 2018. Both had previously worked in branding and marketing for Taco Bell. Brandt worked at the taco chain from 2010 to 2016, including his final year as chief brand officer, and Perdue worked her way up for over 12 years ending her run in 2017 as chief product marketing officer.
Tressie Lieberman spent four years at Taco Bell, from 2012 to 2016, working with both Brandt and Niccol. She came to Chipotle in May 2018 to take on the role of vice president of digital marketing and off-premise. She is largely credited for playing a crucial role in building Chipotle’s now $4 billion digital business. Lieberman left Chipotle in 2023 to become CMO of Yahoo. A year later, Niccol, who works in Newport Beach, poached her again. She is now the global chief brand officer at Starbucks, where Niccol is now CEO.
What Makes the Taco Bell Consumer Tick?
When Sean Tresvant was named Taco Bell’s chief brand officer in December 2021, he said was joining a “marketing powerhouse of trailblazers.”
He should know.
Tresvant came to Taco Bell after spending more than a decade at Nike, where his last role was chief marketing officer of the Jordan brand. At Nike, he was responsible for defining the Jordan brand’s voice across the globe, overseeing brand campaigns, product marketing and creative collaborations.
“I think the best brands in the world know how to create emotion in consumers. Whether it’s a restaurant, whether it’s apparel, whether it’s digital, whether it’s a service,” Tresvant told the Business Journal.
Tresvant is credited for leading the return of the chain’s Mexican pizza back in 2023, which was spurred by a social media post from artist Doja Cat in 2020. The dish sold out in about two weeks as restaurants ran out of ingredients.
“We had no idea (that) we were creating an unforgettable moment in culture for the Mexican pizza,” the CEO said.
— Emily Santiago-Molina
China and Mexican Fast Food
It’s clear that China loves Pizza Hut and KFC but not so much Taco Bell.
China was responsible for $9.3 billion, or 27% of KFC’s system wide sales in 2024. For Pizza Hut, China generated $2.4 billion, or 18% of systemwide sales.
Taco Bell is a different story. It’s so insignificant that Yum Brands’ filings don’t include revenue in China for Taco Bell.
Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant said Mexican food isn’t as popular in China.
“With China, we got to continue to figure out,” Tresvant told the Business Journal. “Most of the countries, there’s the degree of difficulty. In the U.K., Mexican food is a category that’s established. Taco Bell is a brand that they know in China (while) the category of Mexican is very different.”
The Irvine-based chain’s four key markets overseas are the U.K., Spain, Australia and India.
“As we think about growth internationally, it’s how do we make sure we build a foundation, not only around the category of Mexican, but what the brand stands for.
“China’s a pretty high degree of difficulty.”