Dive Brief:
- Taco Bell’s Live Más Café concept will open its first locations in Texas next month, with a Dallas location opening on Nov. 6 and a Houston unit opening on Nov. 20, the brand said in an emailed statement.
- These future openings mark the beverage-driven concept’s debut outside of California, where it first set up shop last year. Taco Bell said more Houston and Dallas locations would open in the coming months.
- Taco Bell is hoping to turn its beverage menu into a $5 billion business by 2030, thanks in part to the Live Más Café, which serves a lineup of beverages designed to appeal to younger consumers including premium coffee options.
Dive Insight:
Yum Brands is placing a special emphasis on drinks at Taco Bell and KFC through its Collider Labs team, which analyzes consumer trends and helps the company predict breakout menu items.
Taco Bell’s emphasis on beverages included the launch of a refresher line, called Refrescas, earlier this year. When Taco Bell announced the Refrescas, the brand also said it was looking to expand the Live Más Café to 30 units by year’s end.
“Live Más Café was created in response to what we’re seeing from Gen Z, a real cultural shift where beverages are becoming lifestyle drivers,” said Taylor Montgomery, Taco Bell’s global chief brand officer
Taco Bell seems to be capturing more of those beverage occasions. In a statement emailed to Restaurant Dive, the chain said it sold more than 600 million drinks through the end of August, a 16% year-over-year increase over 2024. A majority (62%) of Taco Bell orders now include a drink.
The Live Más Café’s recent units have seen substantial success, as well. The concept’s website lists five locations in California and the two soon-to-open Texas locations. Taco Bell said an Irvine, California, location, where the cafe concept opened in September, sells upwards of 900 beverages a day and one-third of orders there include a drink specific to the Live Más Café. That location is across the street from University of California, Irvine, making it an ideal location to capture Gen Z consumers.
As consumer demand for premium beverages has reshaped dayparts and consumption patterns, Yum has positioned itself to benefit from that shift through its specialty drinks. Other QSRs have tried similar moves. McDonald’s CosMc’s spinoff eventually closed, but the Golden Arches took lessons from its tenure to develop new drinks. Wendy’s, likewise, is increasing the prominence of non-soda, non-milkshake drinks on its menu with cold brew cold foam and sparkling energy drinks in Pineapple Citrus and Cherry Limeade flavors.
As consumers have become more willing to try coffees, premium drinks and other beverage items at fast food restaurants, traditional coffee chains are feeling pressure. As Starbucks’ traffic has eroded, the chain has tried to respond by a combination of menu innovation in healthier-seeming categories, and a renewed emphasis on its coffeehouse branding.
