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Taco Bell

Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California, in the U.S. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., they serve a variety of Tex-Mex foods including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "value menu" items. Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers each year in more than 6,500 restaurants (mostly in the U.S.), more than 80 percent of which are owned and operated by independent franchisees.

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History

Founding and growth

Taco Bell was founded by Glen Bell, who first opened a hot dog stand called Bell's Drive-In in San Bernardino, California[4] in 1946 when he was 23 years old. In 1950, he opened Bell's Hamburgers and Hot Dogs in San Bernardino's West Side barrio. According to Gustavo Arellano, author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, Bell watched long lines of customers at a Mexican restaurant called the Mitla Cafe, located across the street, which attracted a dedicated customer base for its hard-shelled tacos.[5][6] Bell began eating there regularly, attempting to reverse-engineer the recipe, and eventually won the confidence of the proprietors such that they allowed him to see how the tacos and other foods were prepared.[5][6] In late 1951 or early 1952, he took what he had learned and opened a new stand, this time selling tacos under the name of Taco-Tia.[5][6]

Over the next few years Bell owned and operated a number of restaurants in southern California including four called El Taco. Bell sold the El Tacos to his partner and built the first Taco Bell in Downey in 1962. On the night of Nov. 19, 2015 the original Taco Bell building in Downey was moved to the Taco Bell Corporate Headquarters in Irvine, CA.[7] In 1962, he sold Taco-Tia. Kermit Becky, a former Los Angeles police officer, bought the first Taco Bell franchise from Glen Bell in 1964,[4] and located it in Torrance. The company grew rapidly, and by 1967, the 100th restaurant opened at 400 South Brookhurst in Anaheim. In 1970, Taco Bell went public with 325 restaurants. In 1978, PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell from Glen Bell.[4]

Several locations in the Midwestern United States were converted from Zantigo, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Mexican chain which PepsiCo acquired in 1986.[8]

Concepts

In 1991, Taco Bell opened the first Taco Bell Express in San Francisco. This concept is a reduced-size restaurant with a limited menu (primarily items priced under $1), meant to emphasize volume.[9] Taco Bell Express locations operate primarily inside convenience stores, truck stops, shopping malls, and airports.

Taco Bell began co-branding with KFC in 1995, when the first such co-brand opened in Clayton, North Carolina.[10] The chain has since co-branded with Pizza Hut[11] and Long John Silver's as well.

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.[12] 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 was still open in 2012.

Taco Bell created U.S. Taco Co. in 2014. The menu will consist of tacos with American fillings, and will not sell food sold in Taco Bell restaurants such as burritos.[dated info] It was launched in Huntington Beach, California in August 2014.[13]

GMO recall

Main article: Starlink corn recall

In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of Taco Bell-branded shells were recalled from supermarkets. The shells contained genetically modified corn that was not approved for human consumption. It was the first-ever recall of genetically modified food (GMO). Corn was not segregated at grain elevators and the miller in Texas did not order that type.[14]

In 2001 Tricon Global Restaurants, 20% owners of Taco Bell at the time, announced a $60 million settlement with the suppliers. They stated that it would go to Taco Bell franchisees and TGR would not take any of it.[15]

Dispute with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (January 2016)

In March 2005, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) won a landmark victory in its national boycott of Taco Bell for human rights. Taco Bell agreed to meet all the coalition's demands to improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers in its supply chain.[16]

After four years of a tenacious and growing boycott, Taco Bell and Yum! Brands agreed to make an agreement called the CIW-Yum agreement with representatives of CIW at Yum! Brands headquarters.[17] The CIW-Yum agreement set several precedents, establishing:

Advertising

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.[19] No piece of the station struck the target.

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http://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/09/taco-bell-menu-jurafsky-language-food