Taco Bell

Taco Bell

File:Taco Bell logo.svg
Company type	Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry	Fast Food
Founded	June 9, 1962 (Downey, California)
Headquarters	Irvine, California, United States
Key people	Glen Bell (founder) Greg Creed (president/CEO)
Products	Tacos, burritos, and other Tex-Mex cuisine-related fast food
Revenue	$1.8 billion USD (2005)
Number of employees	175,000+
Parent	Yum! Brands
Website	tacobell.com

Taco Bell is a restaurant chain based in Irvine, California, specializing in Mexican-inspired fast food. It is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands. Most restaurants are located in North America, but there are also many in other countries. The menu focuses on taco and burrito variations, but many other selections are offered.

Corporate profile

History

File:Former Taco Bell Logo.png

The classic Taco Bell logo used from 1985-1994. It is still in use at many Taco Bell locations. A variation of the classic logo, used from 1992-1994, resembles the current logo (a la a "placeholder logo").

File:TacoBellWausau.JPG

Taco Bell's original restaurant design with their first logo sign.

At the age of 23, Glenn Bell came home from serving in the Marine Corps during WWII. He went to San Bernadino, California, sure that there would be a good market for recreational activities that had disappeared during the war. His first business venture was a hot-dog stand called Bell’s Drive-In, where he learned the foundations of business.

Bell sold the stand in 1952 and started to create a better version. He didn’t want his stand to be like the McDonald brothers, who were starting their first stand at the time, so he strayed away from burgers and fries. After experimenting with alternative food items, Glen Bell opened three Taco-Tia stands in 1954 and 1955, which he later sold to his partners. He then opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California on March 21, 1962.

The first Taco Bell franchise was sold in 1964 and the company became public in 1969. In 1978, the chain was sold to PepsiCo. The chain was spun off along with Pepsi's other fast food restaurant holdings as Tricon Global Restaurants in October 1997. Tricon became Yum! Brands in May 2002.

General operations

Smaller Taco Bell outlets, offering a reduced version of the menu, appear in shopping malls, airport terminals, university and military base dining halls, department stores, hotels, gas stations, sports stadiums, and other locations. Some school lunch programs also offer Taco Bell items under the Taco Bell Express branding.

The Taco Bell name is also used under license by Kraft Foods, which offers a line of taco shells, spices, salsa, and other Mexican foods (including full meal kits) featuring the Taco Bell Home Originals name in supermarkets nationwide.

As of 2007, there are 5,580 Taco Bell restaurants in the United States, including 1,301 company-owned locations, 3,807 franchisees, and 472 licenses. Internationally there are 230 locations, 1 company owned, 195 franchisees and 42 licensees.

Over the last several years,Yum! Brands, Inc. has been co-locating its various restaurant franchises (KFC, Long John Silver's, A&W, and Pizza Hut).

Yum! Brands recently announced that it would attempt to mirror the international successes of KFC and Pizza Hut by expanding Taco Bell globally. The first Taco Bell in the Middle East since the closure of outlets in Saudi Arabia in the mid 90's recently opened in the Dubai Mall and there are plans to further expand into the UAE using this location as a flagship, in addition Taco Bell announced that it would expand to Spain in early 2009 and India in April 2009. In addition to the main operations in the US/Canada, Taco Bell also currently has locations in Aruba, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guam, Guatemala, Iceland, Mexico, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore and United Arab Emirates. Previous attempts to expand the chain to Australia, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the United Kingdom have failed. Yum has mentioned that the biggest challenge to the worldwide expansion of Taco Bell is markets where Mexican food is unpopular or unknown and hopes that the Americanized version will appeal to these regions. Yum is also considering re-opening Taco Bell outlets in the United Kingdom as part of a large European expansion, Yum say that there is now a greater awareness of Mexican food in the UK and they can be successful with improved menu options and marketing.

Results

Taco Bell also has the largest sales per system unit in Yum!, having USD 1.17 million sales per system unit, excluding licensees.

Co-branding

A Co-branded Taco Bell and KFC

Taco Bell with Long John Silver's. in, Chicago, Illinois

Many Taco Bell Express brand outlets can be found in suburban strip malls, often adjacent to other Yum!-brand eateries, most notably Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Long John Silvers.

Lawsuit

A lawsuit filed in 1998 by Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks alleged Taco Bell failed to pay them for use of the Chihuahua character they created. The men alleged that Taco Bell had breached payment on a contract after they worked with the restaurant chain for a year to develop the talking Chihuahua for use in marketing. The Chihuahua became a hit: In it, the character bypasses a female Chihuahua for a Taco Bell taco and declares: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." The two men received $30.1 million, plus an addition of $11.4 million in interest. Taco Bell said it would appeal the verdict.

50 Cent filed a federal lawsuit against Taco Bell on July 23, 2008. The suit claims that his name was used in a print ad asking him to change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent as a part of the "Why Pay More?" campaign. 50 Cent was not aware of the ad until it came out, while fake letters containing the name change request were sent to the news media for promotional purposes. He is seeking $4 million in damages.

Acquisitions

• In 1984, Taco Bell acquired Pup 'N' Taco.
• In 1986, Taco Bell acquired the Faux-Mex restaurant chain known as Zantigo, known for their chili-cheese burrito. The Chilito was added to the Taco Bell menu. The name was later quietly changed to Chili Cheese Burrito after comedian Paul Rodriguez pointed out the negative connotations of the word chilito (a slang word for penis) in Mexican Spanish dialect.

Border Bell

In 1997, PepsiCo experimented with a new "fresh grill" concept, opening at least one Border Bell restaurant in Mountain View, California on El Camino Real (SR 82). In addition to a subset of the regular Taco Bell menu, Border Bell offered Mexican-inspired items like those available from Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants (then owned by PepsiCo), such as Chevys signature sweet corn tamalito pudding and a fresh salsa bar. Close to the time that PepsiCo spun off its restaurant business in 1997, the Border Bell in Mountain View was closed and converted to a Taco Bell restaurant, which is still open as of 2008.

Products

Taco Bell menu

• Tacos
• Burritos
• Empanada
• Quesadillas
• Mexican pizza
• Enchiladas

Taco Bell's dessert options include the Caramel Apple Empanada and Cinnamon Twists. Sides include nachos, pintos and cheese, and a cup of rice which used to come with a double portion of rice, red sauce, cheese, and formerly green onion, though this ingredient is no longer carried after an E. coli scare. As of 2008, Taco Bell has removed the red sauce and cheese from the sides of rice.

Big Bell Value menu

In the late-1980s, Taco Bell commonly advertised its "59, 79, 99" pricing plan, in which nearly everything on the menu was priced at 59¢, 79¢, or 99¢.

Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme

Despite Taco Bell's inexpensive prices, its least expensive menus did not appear until the mid-2000s. The introduction of the value menu also brought new items to the restaurant's offerings, notably items made with potatoes and Taco Bell's third dessert, the Caramel Apple Empanada. (Cinnamon Crispas, triangular fried flour tortilla shells, were offered until being replaced by Cinnamon Twists.) The Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito recently replaced the Bean Burrito Especial, which was removed because of its small profit margin. However, the Bean Burrito Especial is still on The Big Bell Value Menu in some markets in the western markets in addition to the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito. Also of note is that half of the menu is not truly new, as Beef Combo Burritos, Cheesy Bean and Rice Burritos, Double Decker Tacos, and both Spicy Chicken items had been on the regular menu before, as permanent or limited time only items.

The Big Bell Value Menu usually includes:

• Grande Soft Taco: two 6" tortillas with nacho cheese in between, a double portion of beef, then lettuce and cheese
• Double Decker Taco: beans on a 6" tortilla wrapped around a crunchy taco with beef, lettuce, and cheese
• Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito: beans, rice, nacho cheese, 3-cheese blend, jalapeño sauce, and fiesta salsa
• Beef Combo Burrito: beans, a double portion of beef, red sauce, cheese, and onion
• Beef & Potato Burrito: beef, red sauce, potatoes, and sour cream
• Spicy Chicken Burrito: spicy chicken, rice, creamy jalapeño sauce, and fiesta salsa
• Spicy Chicken Soft Taco: spicy chicken (1.5 oz), lettuce (.5 oz), fiesta salsa (.5 oz.)
• Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes: warm nacho cheese, cool sour cream, golden fried potatoes
• Caramel Apple Empanada: warm caramel sauce and apple chunks

Why Pay More Value Menu

In May 2008, a new value menu called "Why Pay More" debuted. This new value menu contains some of the items from the previous value menu as well as a variety of new ones.

http://www.tacobell.com/valuemenu/

The menu (and prices in most areas) is:

79¢ Items:

• Melted Three Cheese Rollup (New): flour tortilla with a blend of three cheeses
• Cinnamon Twists

89¢ Items:

• Cheesy Double Beef Burrito
• Triple Layer Nachos (New): nacho chips with Taco Bell's Red Sauce, beans and nacho cheese sauce
• Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes

99¢ Items:

• Big Taste Taco (New): flour tortilla with beef, lettuce, crunchy Red Strips, cheddar cheese and Creamy Jalapeño Sauce
• Bean Burrito
• Soft Taco
• Crunchy Taco
• Caramel Apple Empanada

In most markets, the crunchy taco had a price increase to 99¢ -- all franchised locations in Arizona have increased this item to 99¢.

Frutista Freeze

In May 2008, a frozen drink called Frutista Freeze debuted. The two flavors are Mango Strawberry and Strawberry: both topped with strawberries. As of October 2008, there is a new flavor, Triple Berries and Cream using a vanilla cream base added to the Frutista. Strawberry and Mango are also available with cream.

http://www.tacobell.com/frutistafreeze/

According to the RGM briefing for December 10th, the cream based frutista freeze drinks are only available while supplies last. The Triple Berries flavor is while supplies last as well.

Big Bell Box Meal

In April 2008, Taco Bell introduced the Big Bell Box Meal with a Bacon Club Chalupa, Volcano Taco, Bean Burrito, and Cinnamon Twists served in a box with a large drink. Every month the contents of the box change with the new promotional item.

http://www.tacobell.com/bigbox/

Launched with broadcast TV advertising in April 2008 featuring comedic radio personality Adam Carolla who prompts viewers to "eat like a man" and that they "deserve a meal made for men."

Promotional/Discontinued items

Promotional or discontinued items include:

• 7-Layer Crunchwrap (still available in some locations)
• Bacon Cheeseburger Burrito
• Bacon Cheeseburger Taco Supreme
• The Bell-Beefer — a taco like hamburger with a hamburger bun, taco meat, cheese, tomato, and lettuce.
• Big Beef Taco
• BLT Chicken Soft Taco
• Border Ices — Tropical flavored ice pops
• The Cheesarito
• The Cheesy Beefy Melt
• Cheesy Gordita Crunch (Debuted in 2002, re-introduced in 2009)
• Chicken Caesar Grilled Stuft Burrito
• Chicken and Steak Grilled Taquitos (now on permanent menu)
• Chicken Enchilada Grilled Stuft Burrito
• Chicken Fajita Burrito
• Chili Cheese Burrito(Not available at all locations) [5]
• Chili Cheese Nachos Bellgrande (still available in some locations)
• Club Chalupa (first released in 2004, currently on a second run in spring of 2008. Now labeled as the "Bacon Club Chalupa" however the ingredients are the same.)
• Crunchwrap Supreme (now on permanent menu)
• Enchirito (now on permanent menu -- had been discontinued for years and brought back recently, albeit with a slightly different preparation)
• Extreme Cheese and Beef Quesadilla
• Good Humor's Choco Taco was also offered for a short while
• Grande Quesadilla
• Grande Soft Taco: two 6" tortillas with nacho cheese in between, a double portion of beef, then lettuce and cheese
• Fritos Burrito — a burrito filled with spicy chili, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and Fritos corn chips
• Fully Loaded Nachos (ended Christmas Eve 2008)
• Nacho Crunch Grilled Stuft Burrito
• Queso crunchwrap
• Rancho Steak Burrito
• Santa Fe Chalupa
• Santa Fe Gordita
• Steak Burrito Bellgrande — A burrito filled with steak, cheese, pico sauce, green sauce and miniature tater tots.
• Taco Bellgrande
• Triple Steak Burrito (2008)
• Ultimate Chalupa — Chalupa with chicken or steak, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, 3 cheese blend, and fiesta salsa
• Volcano Burrito (a special promotion in conjunction with the 1995 film Congo)
• Volcano Taco - Red hard shell tortilla with seasoned beef, real cheddar cheese, lettuce and Cheesy Lava Sauce.
• Zesty Nachos (still available in some locations)
• In 2007, Taco Bell test marketed a breakfast menu in Omaha, Toledo, Fresno, and Tucson. The menu featured eight breakfast items, including a version of the popular grilled stuft burrito with eggs, bacon, and potatoes. The menu has been discontinued.

In 1991, Taco Bell launched a Fiesta menu which had smaller sized versions of four their popular menu items: the taco, soft taco, bean burrito and tostada. Each item was approximately 40% smaller than the normal versions and cost $.39 each.

In the early-1990s, Taco Bell changed its menu due to pressure concerning the nutritional value of items labeled "Lite". It was believed the term was vague or possibly deceptive. Many items were dropped entirely from the menu, such as the "Taco Lite", a fried flour tortilla shell with lean beef, fat free sour cream, lettuce, reduced fat cheese, and tomatoes. Some items were altered to change the nutritional values, such as the removal of olives from the list of ingredients, in an effort to reduce sodium.

Taco Bell's current restaurant design

In early 1994, Taco Bell transformed the familiar rainbow logo, in favor of a simpler pink/purple combo logo in an effort to revitalize their almost 20 year old logo. This was done after a movie placement tie-in with Demolition Man. In the sci-fi story Taco Bell is the only remaining restaurant chain in the world. The Taco Bell is portrayed in the futuristic purple and pink design.

Reduction of trans fats

As of April, 2007, Taco Bell has switched to zero trans fat frying oil in all of its US single-branded locations.

This has greatly reduced the levels of trans fats in most Taco Bell menu items, but they are still not completely free of trans fats.

"Fresco Menu"

In 2003, Taco Bell's current head of Public Relations Kassandra Marshall launched the "fresco style" menu. By ordering something fresco style, the item's cheese and/or sauce is replaced by the chain's fiesta salsa. Using this option cuts the fat in the product in half in some cases.

In January 2008, Taco Bell launched a Fresco menu. It has items with less than 9 fat grams and a freshly prepared Fiesta Salsa. The Fiesta Salsa is a zesty mix of diced tomatoes, white onions and cilantro that replaces the cheese, sour cream, and sauce (with exception to red sauce, pizza sauce, and green sauce) and adds only five calories per serving and no fat.

http://www.tacobell.com/fresco/

The Fresco Menu includes the following items:

• Fresco Crunchy Taco - 8 grams of fat - 150 calories
• Fresco BURRITO SUPREME[R] - Chicken - 8 grams of fat - 330 calories
• Fresco BURRITO SUPREME[R] - Steak - 8 grams of fat - 330 calories
• Fresco Bean Burrito - 7 grams of fat - 330 calories
• Fresco Fiesta Burrito — Chicken - 8 grams of fat - 330 calories
• Fresco Soft Taco - 7 grams of fat - 180 calories
• Fresco Zesty Chicken BORDER BOWL[R] - 8 grams of fat - 350 calories
• Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco - 4.5 grams of fat - 160 calories
• Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco - 4 grams of fat - 170 calories

Advertising

Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine

In 1995, Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon appeared in a series of commercials promoting the Double Decker Taco, which would become a permanent menu item.

On April 1, 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it to "the Taco Liberty Bell." Thousands of people who did not immediately understand the press release as an April Fool's Day hoax protested.

In March 2001, Taco Bell announced a promotion to coincide with the re-entry of the Mir space station. They towed a large target out into the Pacific Ocean, announcing that if the target was hit by a falling piece of Mir, every person in the United States would be entitled to a free Taco Bell taco. The company bought a sizable insurance policy for this gamble. No piece of the station struck the target.

In 2003, Costa Rican Taco Bell franchises temporarily marketed their tacos as "Tacos ticos", because for Costa Ricans, the word "taco" refers to what is known in Mexico as a flauta. ("Tico" is a colloquial term for natives of Costa Rica.)

In 2004, a local Taco Bell franchisee bought the naming rights to the former Boise State Pavilion in Boise, Idaho and renamed the stadium the Taco Bell Arena. [6]

In the summer of 2004, PepsiCo and Taco Bell introduced Mountain Dew Baja Blast. The tropical-lime flavored drink is exclusive to Taco Bell stores. Along with this, Taco Bell introduced its Mountain Dew "Viva Variety!" promotional campaign, where the advertising on the soft drink fountain shows three cups of Mountain Dew—one regular, one Code Red and one Baja Blast.

In 2007 Taco Bell offered the "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion—if any player from either team stole a base in the 2007 World Series the company would give away free tacos to everyone in America in a campaign similar to the Mir promotion, albeit with a much higher likelihood of being realized. After Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox stole a base in Game 2, the company paid out this promotion on October 30, 2007. This promotion was used again in the 2008 World Series, when Jason Bartlett of the Tampa Bay Rays stole a base during Game 1 at Tropicana Field, to be paid out on October 28, 2008.[7] These promotions were part of the company's activities as one of the sponsors of the World Series telecasts.

Added to the official menu in early 2007, the Grilled Taquito is Taco Bell's latest permanent product. Some of their most recent "limited time only" items have included the Ultimate Chalupa (chalupa with chicken or steak, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, three-cheese blend, and fiesta salsa), and the Nacho Crunch Grilled Stuft Burrito.

A commercial in May 2008 features two men at the speaker in the Taco Bell drive-thru, for the 89-cent burrito promo. They start rapping about the burrito to an employee named Stephanie.

Taco Bell sponsors a promotion at home games for both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Cleveland Cavaliers in which, if the home team scores 100 points or more, everyone in attendance receives a coupon for a free Chalupa. This tradition started sometime around 1999.

Promotional partners

20th Century Fox

• X-Files (1998)
• Casper Meets Wendy (1998)
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Digimon: The Movie (2000)
• Planet of the Apes (2001)
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

Disney/Pixar/Hollywood Pictures

• Oliver & Company (1988)
• D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)
• Kazaam (1996)
• Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)

Mattel

• Barbie (1991)
• Vertibird (1994)

Paramount

• Congo (1995)
• Popeye (1980)
• Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Sony Pictures

• Ghostbusters (1984)
• The Care Bears Movie (1989)
• The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)
• The Real Ghostbusters (1986)
• Ghostbusters II (1989)
• Godzilla (1998)
• The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)
• Stuart Little (1999)
• Charlie's Angels (2000)
• Stuart Little 2 (2002)

Universal Studios

• Hulk (2003)

Warner Bros.

• Batman (1989)
• Demolition Man (1993) (International markets only)
• Animaniacs (1994)
• Jack Frost (1998)
• Rescue Heroes (1999)

Fox Kids

• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series (1990)

PBS

• Barney & Friends (1993)
• The Magic School Bus (1995)

New Line Cinema

• Spawn (1997)

Viz Media

• Medabots (2001)

Hallmark Entertainment

• Voyage of the Unicorn (2001)

Nine Network

• Hey Hey Its Saturday (2000,2003,2005)

Mascots

Taco Bell has not had many mascots. In 1995, it introduced two mascots to promote the Taco Bell kids' meal, the Ren and Stimpy-esque Nacho and Dog. Nacho was a crazy cat who got all his knowledge of the world by watching television and was obsessed with Mexican food. Dog was a dog who was more well-behaved than Nacho and got all his knowledge of the world by reading books. They were dropped in mid-1997.

In September 1997, the Taco Bell chihuahua was introduced. He spoke the line in commercials for their wildly popular "Yo quiero Taco Bell" campaign. In the Spanish language, yo quiero means I want . The little dog's real name was "Gidget", but that was never publicized in the ad campaign. The character was voiced by comedian, and cartoon voice-over artist, Carlos Alazraqui of Reno 911! and Rocko's Modern Life. By 1998, the Taco Bell chihuahua was known as the biggest commercial star on the planet, but his popularity dropped significantly by 2000. As of the early-2000s, Taco Bell has gone away from the chihuahua and instead has promoted its value menu through "I'm Full!!" commercials and used "Think outside the bun" as its slogan. Gidget did, however, make a cameo in a 2002 Geico commercial where he met Geico's spokes-gecko. That commercial continued to air through 2004.

In the early 2000s, Taco Bell's hot sauce packets (Mild, Hot, and Fire) got a major makeover. The restaurant decided to implement a scheme that would make the condiments a conversation piece; quotes change regularly, and Taco Bell has created a contest to have patrons enter their ideas.

Global locations

Countries currently with Taco Bell locations (AAFES=US Military Base Locations Only)

• Aruba
• Canada
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• Germany - AAFES
• Guatemala

• Iraq - AAFES
• Iceland
• Japan - AAFES
• Kuwait - AAFES
• Mexico
• Philippines
• South Korea - AAFES

• Spain
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom - AAFES
• United States
  • Guam
  • Puerto Rico

Countries formerly with Taco Bell locations

• Australia
• People's Republic of China
• Japan
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Korea
• United Kingdom

Future International Expansion

• Algeria
• India
• Spain
• United Kingdom

Australia

Taco Bell first opened stores in Australia in the early 1980s under the name 'Taco Amigo' because the trademark rights for 'Taco Bell' were already used by another company (Similar to the Burger King situation which led to Australian stores being named Hungry Jacks) the venture failed and stores closed down shortly afterwards.

Taco Bell returned to Australia in late 1998, this time under Taco Bell branding, and opened a handful of stores in Sydney, many of which were multi-store restaurants formally standalone KFC or Pizza Hut locations. The venture only had moderate success, and eventually some standalone Taco Bell restaurants were 'split' to offer KFC as well. The Taco Bell dog was used in commercials with promotions such as 99 cent tacos used to encourage customers to try the chain. However, Sydneysiders never really warmed to the concept of Mexican fast food and Taco Bell closed its last outlet in December 2003. Former Taco Bell sites were rebranded as KFC or Pizza Hut.

China

File:Taco Bell-China-Logo.png

Taco Bell Grande's Logo

In 2003, Yum! Brands introduced the Taco Bell brand into People's Republic of China. The Chinese Taco Bell restaurants are not fast-food restaurants like other Taco Bells. Instead, they are full-service restaurants called Taco Bell Grande that are more analogous to a Mexican grill in the United States. In addition to the usual taco and burritos, Taco Bell Grande also serves other Mexican cuisine like albóndigas (meatball soup), tomatillo grilled chicken, fajitas, and alcoholic drinks such as Margaritas. The chain had operated three restaurants in China, two in Shenzhen and one in Shanghai. However, the Shanghai location closed at the end of January 2008 . One location in Shenzhen closed on February 20, 2008; the second location followed shortly after, closing on March 5, 2008.

Canada

In Canada, Taco Bell locations are quite common. The menu varies only slightly from the American counterpart. Most notably, Canadian locations sell French fries. The Fries Supreme, French fries topped with ground beef, cheese, sour cream, and green onions is one of the more popular side-orders.

United Kingdom

Currently, there are only two Taco Bell locations in England, both operated by AAFES on air bases RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. They are not accessible to the general public and are in place for the benefit of the USAFE.

The United Kingdom was the first European country with a Taco Bell. In 1986 a location was opened in London on Coventry Street (between Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus) followed by a second location in Earls Court near the Earl's Court tube station. One other store opened in Uxbridge but all closed in the mid 1990s. Today the Coventry Street site is occupied by a branch of the sit-down restaurant chain TGI Friday's. In 1994 the university food provider Compass announced plans to open stores in its university and college sites. However only one store was opened in Birmingham University, no other stores were opened and the Birmingham site is now closed.

Yum! Brands recently announced that it is considering reopening Taco Bell locations in the UK as part of a large planned expansion into Europe with trial outlets opening first in Spain in early 2009. Yum! is taking advantage of the recent recession which has led to increasing sales at other fast food outlets, it also says that there is now a greater awareness of Mexican food in the UK and that it can be successful with improved menu offerings and marketing.

Germany

Currently, there are no public Taco Bell locations in major German cities. AAFES does operate several locations at major US bases in southern Germany. These secure locations are located at: Ramstein Air Base near Kaiserslautern, Mannheim Gartenstadt, Heidelberg Shopping Center, Schweinfurt Ledward Barracks, Grafenwöhr PX Complex/Shopping Center, Baumholder and Wiesbaden Hainerberg. After 9/11, access for non-military customers was severely restricted.

Iceland

Iceland is currently the only country in Europe to have a publicly accessible Taco Bell. It is operated as a part of the KFC establishment in Hafnarfjörður, suburb of Reykjavík. It was established in late 2006, after the departure of US Navy from Naval Air Station Keflavik. A second location opened in the Ártúnshöfða part of Reykjavik in November 2008

Japan

Taco Bell is located on most Joint Japan/US Naval Bases like NAF Atsugi, U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo, and Yokosuka Naval Base. On Okinawa alone, there are 4 Taco Bell locations. One is at Kadena Air Base with the US Air Force. The remaining three are located with the US Marine Corps at Camp Foster, Camp Schwab, and Camp Hansen. Taco Bell Express, a smaller food-court variant, is also found at Misawa Air Base and Yokota Air Base. As with the other international locations on Military bases, access to the general public is restricted. Only Military personnel, dependents, and Contract personnel both DoD and Civilian and their authorized guests have access to them.

Mexico

After a failed attempt to enter the market in 1992 that finished with all the restaurants closing 2 years later, in September 2007 Taco Bell returned to the country. The first restaurant in the northern city of Monterrey is part of a plan to open between 8 and 10 more locations in 2008 and eventually reach 300 stores.

Philippines

In 2004, Taco Bell opened three restaurants in Manila, Philippines. Subsequently, a fourth store was added. The Philippines hosts the most Taco Bell locations outside North America, excluding those which belong to overseas US Military-leased lands.

Singapore

Currently there are a few KFC outlets in Singapore that also sell Taco Bell meals. An example is the Hougang KFC Taco Bell outlet in Heartland Mall, Hougang South, beside Kovan MRT Station along Upper Serangoon Road. There is also the new 3-in-1 freedom of choice outlets, serving Pizza Hut/Taco Bell/KFC such as the branch in Funan DigitaLife Mall on North Bridge Road. However there are no restaurants selling only Taco Bell merchandise.

South Korea

There is a Taco Bell located on Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, Korea for use of on-base personnel. There is also a Taco Bell on Kunsan Air Base.

Spain

There is a Taco Bell/KFC outlet located on Naval Station Rota for use of personnel with authorization to be on-base. This was the first Taco Bell located in the Iberian Peninsula.

Yum! Brands announced that it would open Taco Bell locations in Spain in early 2009 as part of a test trial for the European market.. The first Taco Bell open for the general public in Spain is located in the Islazul Shopping Mall, Madrid, and was open on December 2008 .

Iraq

There is a Taco Bell operating within the confines of the US Military base in Baghdad.

United Arab Emirates

There is a Taco Bell in the Dubai Mall which opened on November 4, 2008. It is the only Taco Bell in the Middle East which is open to the public and the first since the closure of outlets in Saudi Arabia in the mid 90's.

Controversies

In 2000, it was discovered that Taco Bell used corn that was not approved for human consumption in at least some of its taco shells.

In November 2006, Taco Bell made local headlines when 22 customers were sickened by the E. Coli bacteria. The bacteria was traced to three New Jersey restaurants. While some people were hospitalized, none were severely harmed.

In 2007, Taco Bell again made headlines in the New York Metro Area when a Taco Bell/KFC restaurant in Manhattan was overrun by rats; footage of the rodents scurrying about were shown on local news. The location was closed by order of the Department of Health.

Logos

• Taco Bell logo used from 1985 to 1994
  Taco Bell logo used from 1985 to 1994
• Current logo of Taco Bell, which came into use in 1994
  Current logo of Taco Bell, which came into use in 1994

See also

• Priszm
• Taco Bell chihuahua
• Enchirito

External links

• Official site.
• Canadian website.
• Taco Bell King, N.C. Website
• Lessons In Taco Bell Trouble Newsday.com
• Family Files Suit Against Taco-Bell - Newsday.com
• Viva Gorditas! Video of the Taco Bell Chihuahua
• Taco-Bell Sued By Sick Boy With E-Coli - FORBES
• Information from FDA
• [8]