How Wendy plans to bring you back for breakfast.

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The company said Thursday it will spend an additional $ 10 million advertising breakfast this year, bringing its overall breakfast advertising spend to $ 25 million in 2021.

The investment is designed to get more people to try breakfast menu items and convince people that when they return to work or drop their children off at school, they should stop by. Wendy’s (MAGNIFYING GLASS).

“Whatever routine is, we have to be a part of it,” CEO Todd Penegor said on an analyst call Wednesday to discuss the company’s second quarter financial results. “This is why we put [an] $ 10 million more advertising to work, to make sure this message is loud and clear. ”

McDonald’s has long dominated the breakfast market. But in recent years the competition has intensified, with more and more restaurants trying to get a part of that part of the day. Dunkin ‘has tested healthier options and launched a plant-based breakfast sandwich, while Taco Bell tries to entice people with tacos, burritos, and quesadillas for breakfast.

Wendy’s was late for the game. It launched a nationwide breakfast menu in March 2020, just before parts of the United States were shut down due to the pandemic.

Now the company sees “opportunities to have fun and test events to put our food in the mouths of our consumers,” Penegor noted. An example? This weekend, Wendy’s is offering free croissant sandwiches for breakfast.

Honey butter chicken cookies and two for $ 4 deals

Wendy’s said in late 2019 that it plans to hire 20,000 people under the initiative and invest $ 20 million in breakfast. At the time, critics were skeptical that the big breakfast bet would pay off. Wendy’s had tried to start breakfast in the past, but those attempts were unsuccessful.

Breakfast sales fell in the industry last year due to pandemic disruption in people’s morning routines. But Wendy’s said breakfast was working well last year, a trend that continued into 2021.

“In the second quarter, our breakfast sales accelerated as expected, increasing 10% from the first quarter,” said Penegor. The chain’s $ 1.99 Honey-Butter Chicken Biscuit and the $ 4 two-for-two breakfast offer helped spur growth, he added, saying “these promotions have been critical to our success as we continue to see very high repeat customers and high customer satisfaction after people have tried our breakfast. ” Wendy’s did not compare second quarter breakfast sales to the same time last year.

In the second quarter, breakfast sales contributed to a 16% increase in US restaurants open for at least 15 months compared to the same period in 2020. Growth was nearly 12% compared to 2019, before the pandemic.

With the additional advertising money, the chain is “confident” that it will be able to increase breakfast sales by 30% in 2021, Penegor said. He added that by the end of next year, around 10% of Wendy’s sales are expected to come from breakfast.

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