The American Egg Board (AEB) recently joined forces with Wendy’s to help further the brand’s successful expansion into the breakfast daypart, partnering on a custom social media influencer program that leveraged consumer affinity for eggs to drive off-premise breakfast consumption in key markets.

“Wendy’s was built on fresh, real ingredients — and our recently launched breakfast menu is no exception,” said John Li, vice president of culinary innovation at Wendy’s. “Our partnership through the AEB’s new program helped us expand on consumer demand for a high-quality breakfast by highlighting the inclusion of real, fresh-cracked eggs on our breakfast sandwiches and inspiring drive-thru and delivery orders across our key markets.”

For the program, the AEB enlisted social media influencers in six key Wendy’s markets to promote and drive trial of the restaurant’s new breakfast sandwiches made with real eggs — a fact that research has shown increases perceived product value when consumers are made aware of it. Instagram posts and stories featuring freshly cracked eggs were recently published on Wednesday and encouraged followers to celebrate #Weggsday — an AEB social marketing campaign — by ordering breakfast from their local Wendy’s.

“We were so excited that Wendy’s was developing new breakfast menu items featuring freshly cracked eggs and knew we wanted to partner to support their efforts and add our marketing prowess to help turn up the volume! The Incredible Egg fits perfectly within the Wendy’s promise of fresh, high-quality, real ingredients and we’re proud to support these incredible new menu items and start this new friendship off so strongly,” said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board.

The partnership exemplifies one of many ways America’s egg industry — through its national commodity marketing checkoff, the American Egg Board — supports the foodservice industry. These efforts now also include solutions to help foodservice operators adapt and drive traffic in the COVID-19 environment.

“The AEB has a long and established record of providing custom strategic solutions to meet the unique needs of top national QSR partners, like Wendy’s — and we’ve shown how eggs can help drive business results,” Metz said. “As a trusted partner to the foodservice industry, the AEB is now investing in helping restaurants of all shapes and sizes safely drive traffic during the pandemic by leveraging The Incredible Egg’s versatility, functional benefits, and tremendous popularity with consumers.”

The AEB recently introduced a foodservice recovery program encompassing enhanced partnership support for large chains like Wendy’s; resources and tools to take advantage of off-premise opportunities such as drive-thru, carryout and delivery; and a new “Boosting Breakfast Business” program for smaller and independent operators that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

“Restaurants that can meet the consumer where they are today by capitalizing on off-premise options and promoting use of real, authentic ingredients with strong consumer appeal, like eggs, may reap near- and long-term benefits — including capturing loyalty and market share. And we’re helping them do that,” said Nate Hedtke, vice president of insights and innovation at the AEB.

In addition to providing custom support to national QSR partners, the AEB has developed a suite of resources featuring eggs to help foodservice operators attract consumers and drive traffic. The resources include: