KANSAS CITY — As the fall season and cooler weather loom, the bulk of new menu introductions continues to be limited-edition items.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) debuted its fall menu, which includes four new items. The limited-edition items feature a chicken sandwich, a black and bleu pizza, which contains carne asada and gorgonzola, a spicy Buffalo chicken chopped salad and a sparkling mango sangria. The fast-casual chain also is returning its Italian chopped salad to menus, which is back with an updated recipe.
“Our latest menu not only provides a variety of innovative new dishes for the fall season, but also welcomes back the original recipe of our classic Italian chopped salad,” said Scott Hargrove, chief marketing officer at CPK. “We experimented with an updated version of the recipe, but our loyal longtime guests told us loud and clear that they wanted the original back — and we were happy to listen.”
St. Louis-based Panera Bread expanded its menu with the return of seasonal items that are centered around its cinnamon crunch bagel, like the cinnamon crunch latte and the ham, egg and cheese on a cinnamon bagel. The new breakfast sandwich features Black Forest ham, scrambled egg and aged white cheddar all on a cinnamon crunch bagel.
“For years we’ve seen how much our guests love our cinnamon crunch bagel, and it inspired us to create a sandwich with a sweet and savory combination that is delicious for breakfast and pairs perfectly with our cinnamon crunch latte,” said Claes Petersson, head chef and chief food innovation officer at Panera Bread.
The Wendy’s Co. is leaning into the pumpkin spice flavor with its pumpkin spice frosty and a pumpkin spice frosty cold brew. The pumpkin spice frosty features hints of pumpkin and warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, while the cold brew is made with the same flavors from the pumpkin spice frosty, with added frosty creamer.
‘We’re always looking for ways to provide fans the familiar flavors they love with a Wendy’s twist, and that’s exactly how the new Pumpkin Spice Frosty Cream Cold Brew came to be,” said John Li, global vice president of culinary innovation at The Wendy’s Co. “We took the iconic pumpkin spice flavor that fans look forward to every year and blended it with our tried-and-true Frosty creamer, for a fall experience fans can’t find anywhere else.”
