How much money does Taco Bell lose on hot sauce packets?

[Cubsfan]

I've lived all over the country and have been to 100+ different TB locations and it is the same everywhere I've been. Regardless how many tacos you order they give you a HUGE pile of sauce packets with your order. I just got back from TB and ordered a Burrito Supremo and a volcano taco. I asked for fire sauce. There were 12 hot sauce packets in the bag when I got home. If I get food for me and the family we will have 5 tacos or so between us and some nachos and there is ALWAYS 20+ packs of sauce in the bag.

I've seen the attendants grab a fistful of sauce and throw it in the bag.

I figure since this happens at every TB there must be some corporate policy regarding not counting the sauce packs. What is the reason for this? It MUST cost them a huge amount of money to send all those packets out the door just to go in my garbage at home.

ANyone know?

[Whiteknight]

I've lived all over the country and have been to 100+ different TB locations and it is the same everywhere I've been. Regardless how many tacos you order they give you a HUGE pile of sauce packets with your order. I just got back from TB and ordered a Burrito Supremo and a volcano taco. I asked for fire sauce. There were 12 hot sauce packets in the bag when I got home. If I get food for me and the family we will have 5 tacos or so between us and some nachos and there is ALWAYS 20+ packs of sauce in the bag.

I've seen the attendants grab a fistful of sauce and throw it in the bag.

I figure since this happens at every TB there must be some corporate policy regarding not counting the sauce packs. What is the reason for this? It MUST cost them a huge amount of money to send all those packets out the door just to go in my garbage at home.

ANyone know?

Who knows what's in Taco Bell's sauce packets, never mind their food. Maybe they get paid to dispose of it. :)

[Ethilrist]

The ingredients in their food are pretty cheap, so they're making a fairly huge profit off of that. I think they're probably doing okay.

[dalej42]

I don't have the exact factual answer, but one thought could be they are saving money by saving time in the drive through. Taco sauce is a condiment that a lot of people aren't likely to have at home/office. If know you put the sauce in the bag and put enough in, then I am not going to sit in the drive through lane looking through the bag. Thus, I leave the drive through immediately and let the next car come in. The extra few seconds that people spend hunting through the bag can add up over the course of a day.

[Q.E.D.]

Here (http://www.nationwidecandy.com/snacks/items/3201490.htm) is a price of $14.95 for 500 packets of ketchup. That works our to less than 3 cents per. Bearing in mind that this for a relatively small quantity for consumer purchase; assuming the price of ketchup and hot sauce are about the same, Taco Bell likely pays considerably less per packet--I'd EWAG in the neighborhood of <1 cent.

[mks57]

When you buy hot sauce in tanker cars, I don't think cost is a problem. They also have to be careful about alienating customers by shorting them on condiments. I really hate restaurants that treat a request for condiments like you just asked for their last dime.

[billfish678]

When you buy hot sauce in tanker cars, I don't think cost is a problem. They also have to be careful about alienating customers by shorting them on condiments. I really hate restaurants that treat a request for condiments like you just asked for their last dime.

Egg friggin zactly!

I'd even HAPPILY PAY (their cost or even a fair bit more ) for each and every condiment packet they give me, but I sure as heck WANT every darn packet I WANT.

If I want two packets of hot sauce per taco, thats what I WANT!

[FatBaldGuy]

Just the other day I went through the drive-up at Taco Time (not Taco Bell) and they had a sign posted in the window that said "Effective immediately we can only give two sauce packets per menu item. Additional sauce packets will be .05 cents each. Sour cream .50 cents per packet. Guacamole .40 cents per packet" (Bolding mine).

I was very tempted to hand them a penny and ask for 20 sauce packets.

[Acsenray]

I was very tempted to hand them a penny and ask for 20 sauce packets.

Unfortunately, you'd be hitting your head against a brick wall.

[Santo Rugger]

I was very tempted to hand them a penny and ask for 20 sauce packets.Guess they have the same marketing team as Verizon. :p

[The Hamster King]

I was very tempted to hand them a penny and ask for 20 sauce packets.Why don't you ask them how many you can buy with a $2 bill?

[butler1850]

In the northeast locations that I've been to, I've found exactly the opposite. I like 2 fire sauce packets per item (3 would be better), but generally end up a few short near the end... thankfully, if I'm not using the drive through, I tend to grab a few extra, and have them stockpiled in my car, and at my work desk.

[tdn]

Here (http://www.nationwidecandy.com/snacks/items/3201490.htm) is a price of $14.95 for 500 packets of ketchup.

So they lose $14.95 per customer?

[CC]

Well, obviously, they factor that cost into their over all expenses and it gets buried in the cost of their various products. If a taco costs, say, $1.50, maybe a fraction of one cent of that cost can be attributed to the cost of the sauce they distribute in a year. At the same time, I'm sure that the guys with short sleeves and ties have suggested to their outlets to not overdo the handouts. They may be cheap but they're not free and the bean counters at every corporation do attend to every bean. But as to the OP, they don't lose money on them. You're there buying their product. YOU are the one who lost the money.

[Markxxx]

I live in Chicago and since 1995 a lot (but not all) of the Taco Bells, drive through or walk in limit you to two sauces per item and charge you for more.

I've seen signs at McDonalds two limiting ketchup, sugar, and creamers. I can understand the dipping sauce for like McNuggets, but ketchup? Yep they do it, so apparently at some fast food resturants they do take that cost into account

With generic Sweet and Low now running close to $2.00 for 50 packets I found you can go to Starbucks and easily grab 50 packets of Equal or Splenda (Which is MUCH more expensive than Sweet and Low) with your $2.00 cup of coffee. And at Starbucks you get the REAL kind not the generics

:)

[CC]

With generic Sweet and Low now running close to $2.00 for 50 packets I found you can go to Starbucks and easily grab 50 packets ...And at Starbucks you get the REAL kind not the generics
I don't know what you mean by "the REAL kind not the generics," but a few years ago, my 7th grade students got on a kick about artificial sweeteners. We discovered, as anyone can who looks at a package, that they are all pretty much dextrose. There is, in addition, a tiny bit of artificial sweetener. The amount in one packet is far too small to measure by normal means. The sweetener is usually aspartame, the generic name for the sweetening agent. The dextrose is there to give the stuff some bulk and to act as a vehicle for the more potent sweetener.

[Acsenray]

Dextrose is glucose (plain sugar), isn't it?

[CC]

Dextrose is glucose (plain sugar), isn't it?
Yup. Although I don't know what you mean by "plain sugar." The granulated sugar that you use on your cereal is sucrose.

[gotpasswords]

I don't know what you mean by "the REAL kind not the generics," but a few years ago, my 7th grade students got on a kick about artificial sweeteners. We discovered, as anyone can who looks at a package, that they are all pretty much dextrose. There is, in addition, a tiny bit of artificial sweetener. The amount in one packet is far too small to measure by normal means. The sweetener is usually aspartame, the generic name for the sweetening agent. The dextrose is there to give the stuff some bulk and to act as a vehicle for the more potent sweetener.(bolding mine)
That only applies to Equal or some generic version in a blue packet.

Splenda (comes in a yellow packet) is dextrose, maltodextrin and sucralose.
Sweet 'N Low (in a pink packet) is dextrose and saccharine.
Stevia is the new kid on the block, and comes in dark green packets. I don't have a packet of it here, but from one of the major producers' website (http://www.buywisdom.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SWPLUS100), there is nothing except stevia in the packets.

There are generic versions of Equal, Splenda and Sweet 'N Low, and these are generally shunned by people as being "too cheap." Regardless, as you said, the dextrose is just nutritionally insignificant filler - without it, there'd be just a few grains of powder in the packets, and consumers used to the volume of sugar in a packet would be confused.

[Acsenray]

Isn't the point of artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose that they impart no calories when eaten? Wouldn't glucose have calories comparable to sucrose?

[beowulff]

Why don't you ask them how many you can buy with a $2 bill?

That might cause the end of civilization as we know it.


Or, at least cause a visit from security.

[CC]

Isn't the point of artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose that they impart no calories when eaten? Wouldn't glucose have calories comparable to sucrose?
The FDA permits a substance that has fewer than 5 calories to call that "no calories." Since there's about a gram of dextrose in a package, and since a gram of sugar yields about 4 calories, they're within their rights to claim zero calories. Not exactly accurate, but close enough for government work, as they say.

[thirdname]

Why can't I buy something like Taco Bell hot sauce in the grocery store? I can find various forms of relatively chunky salsa, I can get tabasco type hot sauces, but I can never find a mexican-style hot sauce.

[Bijou Drains]

When I worked at Wendys in the 80s they tracked costs by category like meat, paper, bread, vegetables, and so on. I guess the hot sauce would go under other food. They tried to keep each category to a certain percent of sales.

[Keeve]

When you buy hot sauce in tanker cars, I don't think cost is a problem.Don't forget the cost of filling up all those little packets. I wouldn't be surprised if the labor and packaging doubles or even triples the final cost. This is surely why I've seen some restaurants (not drive-thrus) which have large containers of condiments that you ladle into your own little cup.

[garygnu]

I live in Chicago and since 1995 a lot (but not all) of the Taco Bells, drive through or walk in limit you to two sauces per item and charge you for more...
Interesting. I've never seen a Taco Bell without large bins full of packets for the taking. The quotes they print on them now indicate they expect your glove box to be full of them (along with a healthy supply of sporks). It's like free advertising.

[Q.E.D.]

Don't forget the cost of filling up all those little packets. I wouldn't be surprised if the labor and packaging doubles or even triples the final cost.

I rather doubt it. They're filled up by high-speed machinery at rates up to 1000/minute or more. They showed the process on How It's Made, and it's just a blur at normal speed.

[Dewey Finn]

Why can't I buy something like Taco Bell hot sauce in the grocery store? I can find various forms of relatively chunky salsa, I can get tabasco type hot sauces, but I can never find a mexican-style hot sauce.
I'm not sure where you are, but the hot sauce is available in a bottle. Here (http://www.meijergroceryexpress.com/Catalog/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=2840008131(GEBase)), for example, is a listing for it at Meijer, a midwestern grocery chain, although I prefer not to buy fast food brands in the supermarket.

[silenus]

You can find it at Von's or Stater Bros. stores if you live out West.

[Rigamarole]

Why don't you ask them how many you can buy with a $2 bill?

Think that would cause their head to asplode.

[seodoa]

Why can't I buy something like Taco Bell hot sauce in the grocery store? I can find various forms of relatively chunky salsa, I can get tabasco type hot sauces, but I can never find a mexican-style hot sauce.

I think what you are looking for is what is usually called "taco sauce" in the supermarket. It's similar to hot sauce, but just a little bit thicker. Ortega (http://www.ortega.com/products/taco_sauce.asp) makes it, as do plenty of other "Mexican food" brands. For something like Taco Bell's "hot" or "fire" sauces, you'd just get one of the hotter brands.

[Markxxx]

Interesting. I've never seen a Taco Bell without large bins full of packets for the taking. The quotes they print on them now indicate they expect your glove box to be full of them (along with a healthy supply of sporks). It's like free advertising.

I was on the NW side of Chicago and the NW suburbs. I have seen some Taco Bells that have the bins with the sauce, but I've run across others with no bins.

I have seen McDonalds too, some have bins with Ketchup packets and some have the ketchup stations with the little cups. Which they SHRUNK in size so you just have to take more.

For the sugar substititue I was referring to the generic version of Sweet 'N Low is about $2.00/50 packets. But at Starbucks they have the actual BRAND of Sweet 'N Low and the actual brand of Equal and Splenda, not the generic equivilents.

[SCSimmons]

The FDA permits a substance that has fewer than 5 calories to call that "no calories." Since there's about a gram of dextrose in a package, and since a gram of sugar yields about 4 calories, they're within their rights to claim zero calories. Not exactly accurate, but close enough for government work, as they say.

Well, what's the nutritional advantage of using artificial sweeteners over sugar, then? Is this just a big scam? Or do the sugar packets contain more grams?

[Ruby]

Christ, I can't even get my taco bell to give me a fricken napkin, let alone multiple sauce packets. Consider yourself lucky.

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Christ, I can't even get my taco bell to give me a fricken napkin, let alone multiple sauce packets. Consider yourself lucky.

Taco Bell has napkins? Can I ask for a cite in GQ?

[Keeve]

Well, what's the nutritional advantage of using artificial sweeteners over sugar, then? Is this just a big scam? Or do the sugar packets contain more grams?Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_packet) says that a typical packet of sugar weighs 4 grams and has 15 calories.

[panache45]

Interesting. I've never seen a Taco Bell without large bins full of packets for the taking. The quotes they print on them now indicate they expect your glove box to be full of them (along with a healthy supply of sporks). It's like free advertising.

There may indeed be an element of "free advertising." The OP throws out his extra packets, but many times they wind up in the glove compartment or a kitchen drawer or canister. So you grab a few to use on some other food, and start thinking "Taco Bell."

[Tom Tildrum]

The "Fire" sauce is heavily subsidized by the research arm of Pfizer. Don't ask.

[Vox Imperatoris]

Well, what's the nutritional advantage of using artificial sweeteners over sugar, then? Is this just a big scam? Or do the sugar packets contain more grams?

Plus, the stuff in sugar packets is sucrose, which is (roughly speaking) twice as complex and thus energy-packing as glucose.

Valete,
Vox Imperatoris

[Do Not Taunt]

Plus, the stuff in sugar packets is sucrose, which is (roughly speaking) twice as complex and thus energy-packing as glucose.

Valete,
Vox ImperatorisWhat? Cite? I'd pretty much always understood that 4 cal/gram was universal for sugars or carbohydrates in general, regardless of 'complexity.'