Musician Omar Apollo collaborates with Taco Bell for new hot sauce venture

Dive Brief:

Yum Brands chain Taco Bell will introduce a new sauce packet, Disha Hot sauce, that's impressed by musician Omar Apollo's household recipe, per a press release. The sauce will probably be out there for Taco Bell Rewards Members on Sept. 24 and extra broadly on Sept. 26.
The sauce packet is featured in a Disha Hot Discovery Box and could be bought a la carte. To mark the partnership, Apollo and Taco Bell will launch a limited-edition liquid-infused vinyl of his newest album, “God Said No.”
The first-of-its-kind sauce packet partnership demonstrates how Taco Bell continues to authentically activate round popular culture, notably music, to forge deeper connections with youthful customers.

Dive Insight:

Taco Bell's newest effort makes in-roads into pop music by way of a collaboration with Apollo, an rising pop singer-songwriter who was nominated for Best New Artist finally 12 months's Grammy Awards and has toured in assist of superstars Billie Eilish and SZA.

The partnership revolves round Disha Hot sauce, as ready from a recipe by Apollo's mom. Disha Hot sauce was the home sauce at a restaurant that Apollo's dad and mom opened after emigrating from Guadalajara, Mexico, to the United States. The restaurant shut down after Apollo was born, and the artist expressed a need to carry the sauce to a bigger viewers since taking part in Taco Bell's Feed the Beat program.

“When Omar shared the story of his family's Disha Hot sauce and its unique, personal flavors, we knew this was the kind of meaningful partnership our fans would love,” stated CMO Taylor Montgomery in a press launch. “At Taco Bell, we consistently look to push the boundaries of menu innovation, and this partnership is an epic first, breaking the mold on traditional celebrity meals.”

In that manner, the Disha Hot Discovery Box is an elevated model of celebrity-curated orders which have develop into a advertising and marketing staple of Taco Bell rivals like Chipotle and McDonald's. The field options three Disha Hot Hot Sauce Packets, a Cheesy Gordita Crunch, a Doritos Locos Taco, a Crunchy Taco, chips and nacho cheese sauce and a medium fountain drink all for $8.99 — an providing in line with industry-wide performs round worth.

To increase engagement across the collaboration, Taco Bell will launch a special-edition vinyl of Apollo's newest album that's infused with radiant orange liquid impressed by the Disha Hot Sauce Packets branding. The document will probably be out there as a part of a package out there for 500 rewards members as a part of a Tuesday drop on Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. PST. Vinyl variants have develop into a key a part of music gross sales and fandom as collectors look to amass completely different coloured data.

Apollo's participation in Feed the Beat demonstrates how this system, which helps up-and-coming musicians, has develop into a gateway for Taco Bell's bigger advertising and marketing efforts. The chain just lately expanded this system to the U.Ok. as a part of its worldwide progress plans.

Taco Bell just lately noticed same-store quarterly sales increase 5%, partly as a result of its identified for worth. The progress contrasts with same-store gross sales declines at Yum Brands’ KFC and Pizza Hut.

The addition of one other sauce to Taco Bell's widespread line of hot sauce packets comes as spicy choices warmth up the bigger restaurant and meals market. Restaurant Brands International chain Firehouse Subs as we speak (Sept. 23) brought back its hot sauce bar, citing an internet survey that discovered 85% of Americans use hot sauce of their meals.