Sort of. The company reportedly added 15,000 jobs in the U.S. last year, outpacing their brethren-in-saturated-fat at KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonald's, according to Greg Creed, the company's CEO. But how were they able to accomplish such an economy-saving feat? By creating and then patenting the revolutionary Doritos Locos Taco, that's how.
The neon-orange, meat-filled miracle taco, wrapped in a Nacho Cheese Dorito shell, was Taco Bell's biggest hit of 2012, with 375 million sold, or roughly one million a day.
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"It has been the biggest launch in Taco Bell history," said Greg Creed, chief executive officer of Taco Bell, which saw same-store sales rise 8 percent in 2012.
And the health-killing, job-creating trend looks to continue, now that the restaurant has officially released another Dorito-based product, the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco.
"We believe we can add 2,000 new restaurants in the next 10 years, because what we have is proprietary and exclusive. Nobody else can make a Cool Ranch Doritos taco. And that's just in the U.S.," says Creed.
Creed also reports the company's plan to go "upscale" in order to compete with "upscale" dining establishments like Chipotle is working, at least in terms of expanding sales beyond the company's typical demographic of young men.
"We've seen more women come in, and more people over 35," Creed said.
Great! But what about those horse meat rumors? Not Creed or America's problem. "It's a Europe issue," Creed told the Huffington Post.
Taco Bell is up. Obesity rates are up. Horse meat rumors are down. It's a good time to be an American.
[via ABC News]