Taco Bell is making some extreme changes. The fast food restaurant is officially saying good bye to their kids' meal and turning its force on young Adults in the process.
CEO Greg Creed, told the Huffington Post that although sales of kid's meals dropped to less than 1 percent of Taco Bell total gross in 2012, the decision was motivated by marketing concerns and not by unit economics. He insisted that the kid's meal were "never unprofitable" but producing them were a waste of significant resources.
"We want to strengthen and be really cleat and focused on our brand positioning as the brand for millennials," Creed said in a phone call to the Huffington Post. "And a kid's meal is just inconsistent with the edgy left-of-center millennial brand."
Taco Bell sales have increased over the past years thanks to items like Doritos Locos Taco.
In a press release Taco Bell, the world's largest chain of Mexican fast food restaurants, noted it was the first fast food chain to discontinue meals targeted toward children.
Many restaurants such as McDonalds have their iconic Happy Meal for children. Last year, McDonalds was included on the "5 Worst 'Healthy' Fast Food Kids' Meals" list, along with Burger Kings Hamburger Kids' Meal and Sonic Kids' Jr. Burger Meal. Health advocates say these meals encourage childhood obesity.
San Francisco, Calf., has passed a law banning the inclusion of toys in kid's meal. According to the Huffington Post, Creed's decision was not about addressing health issues with the company, but he does see it as a small side benefit.
"To some extent, hopefully its empowering parents," Creed said. "Because now parents get to discuss with their children what they'd like to eat when they visit a Taco Bell, without the influence of a toy."
This was not a hard decision for Creed. He said he wanted to get rid of the kid's meal since he joined the Taco Bell company in May 2001, the same year the company stopped showing any ads for children.
The chain will serve its last kid's meal in January.
