Burger King enters snack-brands with mac "n cheetos

Burger King Mac n" Cheetos | KEEMI

Mac "n Cheetos will be sold for about eight weeks or until supplies run out, said Burger King, which is part of Restaurant Brands International Inc. The $2.49 five-pack of portable macaroni-and-cheese bites are similar to mozzarella sticks. The item, which has 310 calories, has already appeared at some Burger King restaurants in a trial phase.

"We"re partnering up with one of Americans" favorite brands," Alex Macedo, president of North America at Burger King, said in an interview. "It"s quite unique."

Facing a fiercely competitive fast-food market, restaurant chains are under pressure to get more creative with their menus. Burger King previously started selling grilled Oscar Mayer hot dogs earlier this year, along with an Egg-normous burrito and Chicken Fries Rings. Other chains, including McDonald"s Corp., are relying more heavily on discounts, such as a two-for-$5 deal.

The Mac "n Cheetos debut also reflects the increasingly tangled web of fast-food alliances. Though PepsiCo owns Cheetos, Burger King"s U.S. restaurants sell beverages from Coca-Cola Co., another company backed by Buffett"s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

However, some of Burger King"s international locations sell Pepsi drinks, and domestic ones offer PepsiCo"s Quaker oatmeal. Yum and PepsiCo, meanwhile, used to be part of the same company, and partnerships between the two are more common.

The new item shouldn"t be seen as a sign that Burger King is switching to Pepsi in the United States, Macedo said.

"It"s not a plan for us to migrate to Pepsi," he said. "Our relationship with Coke is as good as it is with PepsiCo."

The two companies started working together about a year ago to create the mac-and-cheese item. It"s the first time the Cheetos brand has been extended beyond chips into other food, and there may be more hybrids coming.

"We"re working on a few other menu items," Macedo said. "There"s room for us to do more together in the future."

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/home/4037619-155/burger-king-enters-snack-brands-with-mac