Episode 32 – How Checkoff Helps Taco Bell With Dairy Product Innovations

Arlene Vander Eyk 0:00
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of your Dairy Checkoff podcast. I am Arlene Vander egg, a dairy farmer from the Central Valley of California. I will be your host for today’s conversation about dairy checkoffs. Partnership with Taco Bell. Today we’re talking to Mike Sarasi, vice president of product research at Dairy management incorporated who is a dairy product scientist embedded at Taco Bell’s Test Kitchen. Mike, can you give us a brief history of yourself and how you came to DMI.

Mike Ciresi 0:34
Hi, erlene, thanks for having me today. It’s a pleasure to be with you virtually. So my name is Mike Tracy, and I’m a I’m a dairy scientist with BMI. I’ve been working in research and development for about 15 years now, mostly focused on on dairy science. And I first joined DMI back in 2013 where I had the amazing opportunity to join the Taco Bell team on behalf of BMI, working in their test kitchen and developing new products for for the menu. Great to

Arlene Vander Eyk 1:07
have you. Why do you think it’s important we have this partnership

Mike Ciresi 1:12
with Taco Bell? When you think about the partnership with Taco Bell, one thing that’s that’s really great is Taco Bell’s size, right? I mean, they have the size and scaling potential. They have over 7000 restaurants in the US alone, and they’re still growing. They’re the number one Mexican inspired quick service restaurant in the category in terms of store count, so that that’s, that’s really key. Also, they’re, they’re so relevant in culture, right? Their their consumers span across multiple generations, but they seem to have this hyper focus on, you know, the younger crowds, like Gen Z and millennials. And I’d say the third thing which is really exciting for me is their innovative mindset. Right? Innovation is in their DNA. It’s a priority for them. They are constantly updating their menu with new items that hit on, you know, the latest trends that you see out there. So there’s going to be this forever opportunity for for dairy at Taco

Arlene Vander Eyk 2:20
Bell, exactly. And I think when you talk about Gen z’s, I know the college age kids are, you know, it’s just always flooded with young people. When I go to Taco Bell, and I know their advertising really focuses in on on bringing them in, they’re in there, in the late night hours after studying, or after partying, or they just have a desire to go to Taco Bell. Can you give us some history of the partnership that we have with Taco Bell?

Mike Ciresi 2:52
So Arlene, the the partnership between DMI and Taco Bell, began in 2012 and they had this vision of, you know, both companies working together on dairy innovation that not only helps the Taco Bell business, but also obviously our dairy farmers and along this journey, the way we’ve been structured is we’ve had dairy scientists like myself who specialize in product development, who work on site, here at the office. So when you, when you, when you look back, the really, the highlights are the several product launches we’ve had over the years, right?

Arlene Vander Eyk 3:31
I’ve actually had a great opportunity to come down to Irvine over there and experience all the innovation and all the all the wonderful products that you keep working on, and it’s just really exciting. And we were able to try a lot of products that probably never even hit the full menu, but they were all absolutely delicious, I can vouch for that, and had all lots of dairy. How can you explain, though? How, how do they feel about dairy, cheese, sour cream, they

Mike Ciresi 4:06
are known for being super cravable, right? Has to be craveable, and that’s why the role of dairy, you know, specifically, cheeses, is so important. It’s vital to them, so much so that it’s, you know, it’s become such an essential part of their strategy, from a from a menu and innovation perspective, right?

Arlene Vander Eyk 4:30
I think we can see that with your Mexican pizza and the dipping, the dipping the cheese dipping sauces, just all the nachos, the cheese all over it, and it just seems like every item on the menu has cheesy, this cheesy that it’s just exciting to see, as a dairy farmer, to see how they use all of those products. What’s it like to work at Taco Bell for DMI?

Mike Ciresi 4:57
It’s great. We built, we built. A really strong relationship with Taco Bell over the years. And, you know, we’re perceived as trusted experts in the dairy space here and and that’s a relationship that that isn’t that doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to build that rapport and trust with with partners. And the way we did that was, look, we work on site at the Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine every day. We’re developing products in their in their test kitchen, side by side with their team. And, you know, we get invited. We’re just considered part of the extension. So we get invited to participate in new product ideation sessions. We work with the cross functional partners here at taco bell, and another key part is we engage with Taco Bell’s dairy supplier community and dairy manufacturers who bring unique dairy capabilities to the table.

Arlene Vander Eyk 5:58
I don’t think we as consumers understand how hard it is to come up with new products that can go into every store and to be developed, I know that’s something that you and I have talked about, that when a consumer goes into Taco Bell, they expect to get the same product, whether it’s in Tulare or it’s in Texas or Pennsylvania, wherever they want the same product, and they want it to taste the same. I know that’s really difficult, and I know that you have played a very key role in developing those products that can be made at every every site. Can you tell us what product? Products have you produced? Yeah,

Mike Ciresi 6:48
there’s been so many products that I’ve worked on over the years. And I think with innovation is you need a ton of ideas, and kind of have to narrow them down, because not everyone is a home run. But I feel like we’ve had a great track record. We’ve had some, some really great, successful launches over the year. Just a couple that come to mind is the case of lupa, right? That was a truly innovative product. It was a kind of the first chief stuffed shell. Had a had a massive media promotion behind it. We actually had a TV ad that ran during the Super Bowl. So that was just super exciting. That was years in the making, and just just a tremendous product. I’ve also developed a couple back in the day, the cheesy core burritos we we then got into beverages a bit, and we developed the pineapple whip breeze that was right when the pandemic hit, but we launched it, and it did super well, and it did, we’re able to actually create a platform off of it. There’s been several iterations off that pineapple whip freeze over the years. So that’s really, that’s really been exciting. And we also have a new we’ll call it dairy dessert beverage that’s testing in market, which we’re really excited about. And we’re keeping a close eye on that one to see how that one performs. That one’s called the churro chillers. And then I think that, you know, the big home run was the grilled cheese burrito that initially launched also in 2020 and that quickly became fan favorite. And it’s actually still available today. That’s

Arlene Vander Eyk 8:29
great. I I totally remember the big Super Bowl ad and the excitement that you felt over over that product, and it was a big hit, and was a big hit for our family. When I see the Taco Bell advertising, I know that they’re also advertising my dairy products and continuing to move great dairy products out there and getting them on the menu and to our consumers. And also, when that pineapple whip came out, I had heard about it, and I made plenty of runs through Taco Bell grabbing one of those, especially in the summertime, and it was fantastic. And now I know I think you have a new strawberry flavored one, a vanilla, they’re just fantastic, and they have that dairy in it. And so we’re just super excited about that. How many do you think you’ve had that stayed on the permanent menu products?

Mike Ciresi 9:29
Well, it’s not too often where, when we launch a product, it stays on the venue. Though, just the way it kind of works is Taco Bell is they do a lot of limited time offers. And so the purpose of those is to be on the menu just for a period of time, and then it comes off, and then we bring back new meat with a new product. So it’s actually not very common at all, but since the grilled cheese burrito performed so well, we launched it a couple times after. The initial launch, and then, you know, the the team here at talk about decided we need to keep it on the menu so, so now in every store nationwide, you can get a girl cheese burrito. Well, I’m

Arlene Vander Eyk 10:10
very happy that it’s there. That’s for sure. It’s one of the items that we pick up, and a favorite of my grandkids also. So keep up the good work. So what are you most proud of working for Taco Bell?

Mike Ciresi 10:24
Well, yeah, our track record, I feel like, has been really solid. I think the impact we’ve had has been tremendous. And you know, when you look back, it’s the success stories and the results we achieved, hitting our goals, everything we can do to to bring value to the checkoff investment, I feel like we’re doing a great job here, and we’ve got a bright future ahead of us.

Arlene Vander Eyk 10:48
So where do you think the future for our relationship with Taco Bell is going?

Mike Ciresi 10:54
I think it’s a pretty simple concept, but difficult to achieve, and that’s just continue to bring dairy innovation that’s super craveable to their menu, right? So it’s easier said than done, but just constantly looking at new ideas, looking at new capabilities, new technologies out there, and how, how can we incorporate them to the Taco Bell’s business to really drive sales and dairy volume here at taco bell, right?

Arlene Vander Eyk 11:23
How do you how do you feel that our science that DMI brings to the table plays a big part in that? Yeah, it’s a

Mike Ciresi 11:32
great question, and consistency is really key to the Taco Bell business. You You know, we want all the products to taste the same wherever you are, and sometimes it’s challenging from from a sourcing perspective, from a back of house perspective. And what’s great is we have a team back in Rosemont. I can be in my office, led by Nash Ed who we can tap into the expertise there. We can we have dairy centers located across the country that we can utilize, whether it’s a pilot scale lab or just scientists that can support some of the work we’re working on. And a good example of this is the shelf stable dairy creamer, which is kind of a one of it’s a one of a kind product. You won’t really see it out there, but it’s essentially a dairy cream that doesn’t require refrigeration. And that was key to execute some of these products back a house at Taco Bell. So we partner, we partnered with one of our dairy centers and developed a formulation all the processing conditions, and we kind of transferred that knowledge over to the Taco Bell team so we could produce a product that works for them. And, you know, we’re still using this product today, and the coffee beverages and our whip freezes, so it’s just been proven to be a good partnership on how we can be a good thought partner and deliver results for Taco Bell.

Arlene Vander Eyk 12:57
You know, you guys are such a leader over at Taco Bell, with all your new innovation. How do you think? Do you see lots of copycats throughout the industry following, following you guys trying to keep up with you. As far as innovation and new products, we

Mike Ciresi 13:13
do. We see that, and it’s expected. We see ourselves as the leaders in innovation. So when we do something new and unique, that drives, you know, eyeballs to the menu. We kind of expect, you know, other players out there to kind of tap into some of the ideas we’ve had. So yeah, we do see that. Yeah, I

Arlene Vander Eyk 13:32
think that’s super exciting, that once you guys do it, you have a little following out there trying to keep up with you. How many, how many new products do you think you have on the shelf over there that have a strong possibility of making it to the menu right now,

Mike Ciresi 13:47
we’ve got several in the pipeline that we’re really excited about. That’s really true, dairy innovation, and it’s just going along the process right now. I can’t give you too many details, but we’re working towards it. We have, you know, the Taco Bell is very keen on testing and markets, so that’s the kind of the first time you get to hear about new products as it pops up in in markets, and then, based off how they perform that, it’s kind of a decision, if it, if the decision is made, to go national, nationwide, and then in every restaurant across the country. Well,

Arlene Vander Eyk 14:21
we’ll be very excited to see what comes down the road with your new innovation, and I know that you continue to work hard for farmers at the World Ag Expo, you were able to come a couple times and be in our booth and able to talk to farmers about all the new innovation and all the dairy products that you’re able to incorporate into the Taco Bell menu, and so we appreciate your hard work. I don’t know if there’s anything else that you’d like to say to farmers out there. Well,

Mike Ciresi 14:57
one, it’s always a pleasure to get out. Out and join you at World egg Expo to talk to farmers, just to understand what’s on their minds, and how can we be better partners and make a big, bigger difference? So it’s really great to get out and just just to meet and talk with farmers. And I would just say, in terms of the Taco Bell partnership, I think one key takeaway is that Taco Bell just continues to be just a tremendous partner for us. You know, we’re we’ve been partnering with them for about 11 years now. I think so. It’s a strong partner. We have great relationship with our leadership team here as well.

Arlene Vander Eyk 15:31
I feel the same way as a farmer, and having that opportunity to go visit you down in Irvine and talk with your leadership and their commitment to farmers and their commitment to having dairy, it just seems to me that they really value our dairy products and the great taste and the nutrition that it brings to the menu, and I know they value you as a dairy scientist, working hard in their in their kitchen, with all your expertise into the menu. So we just really appreciate you. So thank you, Mike today for having this conversation. It’s been interesting to hear about the DMI and the Taco Bell partnership and how we work together and create new and interesting dairy products. I just like to say thank you to all those that are out there that joined us today. If you want to hear more about various issues affecting the dairy community, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast platforms, including stitcher Spotify and iTunes, or you can check out our website, Dairy Checkoff podcast.com for future episodes. I hope you all have a dairy great day, and that includes you, Mike, thanks, Mike, it’s great seeing you. Keep up the great work. It’s been

Mike Ciresi 16:58
a pleasure. Thank you. Applause.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai