I guess it’s finally official. The mainstream media have picked up the term ‘Wraps War’ to mark the entry of the final major Fast Food players in the ‘wraps’ sub-market. Meanwhile, the competition shows no signs of cooling in 2025…
Classic Fast Food Wraps: Not just Burritos with one end left open…
They are most pervasive on breakfast menus at the major Fast Food outlets. But they can play a ‘mains’ role at any mealtime. Not to mention serve as superb grab-and-go snacks…
Becoming generic
The concept of the Fast Food wrap has all but become standardised as ‘anything’ rolled up in a soft flour tortilla. And the tell-tale detail that distinguishes your standard ‘wrap’ from other ‘wrapped’ dishes is that one end is usually folded in and the other left open, like a traditional shawarma or donnair.
That said, it’s not surprising that many of the major Fast Food brands have added wraps to their menus, either as permanent items or frequently reprised members of their rotating limited-time rosters.
A little history…
“What’s portable, cheap, adaptable, easy to execute and snackable? Ask that question to a roomful of quick-service operators, and judging from recent menu activity, the answer would be a resounding, ‘the wrap’,” contributor Patricia Cobe wrote recently in Restaurant Business.
Wikipedia says the early, primordial origins of the wrap are shrouded in misty myths and leaky ledg-ends. But the wrap as we know it, “probably comes from California, as a generalization of the Mexican and Tex-Mex burrito, and became popular in the 1990s.”
But the concept goes back a lot farther than that – millennia, in fact. The wrap is just the most recent species to evolve in a line that includes Asian Spring Rolls, Indian Kati, Korean Ssam, and Greek Gyros. There are native ‘heritage’ wraps on every continent where there is native flatbread of some kind.
Who’s ‘in’?
According to tasting Table, there are at least a dozen Fast Food chains in the fast and furious wraps fray. Each offers multiple versions. Some serve ’em only at breakfast. but the majority offer them both first thing and trough the day, with ‘lunchier’ fillings. Often as snacks. The the master roster of different wraps totals in the dozens. Depending on who’s limited-time versions are ‘in release’ at any given moment, possibly more than 100.
The phase in the evolution of wraps may be the emergence of specific styles featuring ‘signature’ ingredients associated with various regions or major cities. The the New York-Style Pizza, or the Chicago-Style Hot Dog…
The big picture
The Wraps War comes directly after the Chicken Sandwich War, and in parallel with the ongoing Value Menus ‘cold war’. In the latter, McDonald’s appears to be taking a lead, having hatched a couple of innovative ideas earlier this year. Most recently, its long-awaited Value Menu, announced late last month.
The most recent genuine trend on the Fast Food scene is the phalanx of new, spin-off restaurants that have started appearing across the battlefront this year. McDonald’s was first, with CosMc’s – a bever-age-driven, limited-menu, fast-service joint founded on the ‘restaurant of the future’ concept. In that same basic mould – just over the past two weeks or so – have come Taco Bell’s Live Más Cafe, and KFC’s Saucy – which will focus on Chicken Tenders.
My take
I’m betting the Wraps War hogs the headlines in 2025. But the spin-off resto trend will be the real vect-or of new growth in the Fast Food sector next year, and the years to follow. And the Resto of the Future concept will gradually phase itself in across the existing, primary Fast Food networks.
I’ll further predict, it’s going to be a rough ride for all involved, especially for the resto bands that come late to the ‘future’ game…
~ Maggie J.