The pricing plan, which will be implemented in varying stages, follows on the company’s strong fourth-quarter results posted Monday and positive 2012 outlook, instilling confidence among investors who may have been concerned about Yum’s momentum given its high exposure to volatile emerging markets. The stock rose 2.75%, to $64.93 in Tuesday trading–marking a 10% rise so far this year.

Yum’s restaurants in China–namely Pizza Hut Casual Dining and KFC–have the biggest impact on its overall business, helping increase its profits 30% in the fourth quarter. However, food and labor inflation are nibbling away at its China restaurant margins, which fell to 15.8% in the quarter from 18.2% the year before, despite menu price increases.

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Co-Branding Partners Include Johnsonville®, Cinnabon®, Tropicana and Seattle’s Best Coffee

Taco Bell Launches 'FirstMeal' in 10 Western States; Teams with Some of America's Favorite Breakfast Brands

Irvine, CA  (RestaurantNews.com)  Taco Bell® today introduced FirstMeal™, a new breakfast menu that combines great Taco Bell value with classic breakfast tastes. Starting today, eleven unique menu items will be offered in 10 Western states, including California, Arizona and Colorado. Featuring some of America’s favorite breakfast brands such as Johnsonville®, Cinnabon®, Tropicana and Seattle’s Best Coffee, individual items will range from 99 cents (sausage or bacon and egg burrito) to $2.79 (Grande Skillet Burrito), with participating restaurants opening their doors and drive-thrus one hour earlier. For most locations, that means 8 or 9 a.m., with breakfast ending at 11 a.m. local time.

“We’re excited to bring value and taste to nearly 750 stores and to fans who are familiar with Mexican-inspired breakfast, while seeking the value and taste that only our FirstMeal menu can give them,” said Brian Niccol, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, Taco Bell Corp. “We’ve partnered with leading breakfast brands that consumers know, love and trust, including Johnsonville Sausage, which has teamed with us to create our signature product, a Sausage and Egg Wrap: a soft flour tortilla filled with savory sausage, fluffy eggs surrounded by melted cheese – all wrapped up and grilled. For those looking for more than a muffin, we feel they’ve met their morning match.”

Niccol expanded on the number of stores and times, noting that more Taco Bell locations in the eastern part of the U.S will start carrying FirstMeal in 2013 – and, starting at the end of 2012, the company will start sampling FirstMeal items alongside Fourthmeal offerings during late-night hours. “This is a very important launch for our brand. While we’re beginning in the west, where people grew up with breakfast burritos, we plan to reach a national audience in the future, becoming a part of their morning routine, and truly opening people’s minds and taste buds as they begin to open their eyes and take on the day.”

The full FirstMeal™ menu, in order of price: Sausage or Bacon and Egg Burrito, Hash Browns, Seattle’s Best Coffee® ($1.49 cents); Cinnabon Delights™ ($1.49), Tropicana Orange Juice ($1.49), Johnsonville® Sausage and Egg Wrap ($1.79), Seattle’s Best Coffee® Premium Vanilla or Mocha Iced Coffee ($1.99), Steak and Egg Burrito ($1.99), Grande Skillet Burrito ($2.79). Three combos will be offered, all for $3.99, which includes a drink and hash brown. Prices and items may vary at participating locations.

Taco Bell has tested FirstMeal in more than 150 stores in four markets: Bakersfield, Calif., Oklahoma City, Tucson, Ariz. and Dayton, Ohio. All participating restaurants will be equipped with full point-of-purchase (POP) advertising, including flutter flags, drive-thru picket signs, window clings and crew buttons. Radio remotes and free giveaways will be included in Taco Bell’s initial marketing mix for FirstMeal.

About Taco Bell Corp.

Taco Bell Corp. (“Taco Bell”), a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), is the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, signature quesadillas, XXL Grilled Stuft Burritos, nachos, and other specialty items such as Crunchwrap Supreme®, in addition to the Why Pay More!® Value Menu. Taco Bell serves more than 36.8 million consumers each week in nearly 5,600 restaurants in the U.S.

The chain that once used a talking chihuahua to sell chalupas is working with Miami chef Lorena Garcia to win back eaters who have become accustomed to Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.’s style of Mexican fare. Menu items will include Chipotle staples such as black beans, cilantro rice and corn salsa, Greg Creed, Taco Bell’s president, said last month.

Taco Bell could use a boost. The chain has shrunk by more than 1,000 stores since 2000 and has been left behind as Yum expanded its KFC and Pizza Hut chains overseas. Chipotle, in the meantime, has been a stock market star, its shares tripling since the end of 2009.

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Book Based on Novak’s Unique Leadership Training Program to Get People Aligned, Enthusiastic and Relentlessly Focused on Achieving Big Goals

“David Novak is the best at leadership, whether teaching it in this book or practicing it.” - Warren Buffett

“An important book about motivation from a proven motivator.” - Jack Welch, founder, Jack Welch Management Institute

“David Novak is a hard-driving CEO with a great heart and soul – and that gives him unique insight into both your own personal development and how to bring out the best in others.” - Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase

“This is the best, most practical hands-on book on leadership I’ve ever read. If you apply these principles, your career and the people you work with will flourish.” - Dr. Bob Rotella, sports psychologist

Yum! Brands Chairman and CEO David Novak Shares Break-Through Leadership Strategies in New Book, TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU

Louisville, KY  (RestaurantNews.com)  How do you lead an organization of any size – from a tiny startup to a global giant – to make big things happen? Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), the world’s largest restaurant company, announced today the publication of TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU: The Only Way to Make BIG Things Happen (Portfolio Penguin, January 2012) by David Novak, Yum! chairman and chief executive officer. Novak shares the secrets of the unique “Taking People With You” leadership program he has developed and taught during his fifteen years at Yum! to thousands of managers and franchisees around the world.

Whether starting a business, developing or launching a new product, moving a company in a new direction or raising money for a good cause, TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU has the answers to empower people at all levels personally and professionally. The book offers a step-by-step guide to setting big goals, getting others on board, achieving break-through results and celebrating after people “shock the skeptics.” Specific tools are included at the end of each chapter that challenge readers to reflect on how they are doing on key aspects of leadership.

Novak teaches leaders will never make big things happen until they learn how to get people aligned, enthusiastic and focused relentlessly on the mission. Yum!’s track record of success, with at least 13 percent earnings-per-share growth for each of the last nine years, proves his point. Under his leadership, Yum! has established itself as a global powerhouse going from approximately 20 percent profits coming from outside the U.S. in 1997 to more than 65 percent in 2010, while driving one of the highest returns on invested capital in the restaurant industry. Today, Yum! is the leading retail developer in China as well as the largest and fastest growing restaurant company in emerging markets with a two-to-one advantage over its nearest competitor. Additionally, Novak has built Yum!’s entire global people-first culture around reward and recognition to drive results.

TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU is filled with street-smart wisdom from David Novak as well as leadership advice from other renowned business icons and management experts such as Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, John O’Keeffe (creator and author of Business Beyond the Box), Larry Senn (chairman and founder of Senn Delaney) and many others. It teaches people to change the way they think about leadership and practice it such as:

• Get inside the heads of your people. You can’t convince them of anything until you see the world from their perspective.
• Think big. If your sales growth last year was 3.5 percent, don’t aim for 4 percent this year, aim for 15 percent. Even if you fail, you’ll probably do better than you would have with a smaller goal.
• Practice “extraordinary authenticity.” Show occasional vulnerability and admit when you don’t have the answers.
• Look for good ideas in unexpected places. Earlier in Novak’s career when he was head of the Frito-Lay account at an advertising agency, he and his team came up with the idea for Cool Ranch Doritos during a field trip to a grocery store’s salad dressing aisle.
• Choose a can-do mind-set. There’s a huge difference between a boss who says “We can try this” and one who says “We can do this!”
• Cheer for first downs, not just touchdowns. Publicly recognizing and rewarding small wins keeps everyone motivated for the long haul.
• Get rid of cynics. In many teams one person will reject your values and spread negative energy. Moving that person out will show everyone else you’re serious.

Whether you are a CEO, an entrepreneur, or new to the business world, TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU will help you get into the right leadership mind-set, develop a strategy and build alignment, and follow-through on the execution of the plan.

All of Novak’s proceeds from TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU will be donated to the United Nations World Food Programme in conjunction with Yum! Brands global hunger relief efforts. Visit www.takingpeoplewithyou.com.

About the Author

Recognized as one of the world’s “30 Best CEOs” by Barron’s, one of the “Top People in Business” by FORTUNE and one of the “100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World” by Harvard Business Review, Yum! chairman and chief executive officer David Novak is known for motivating people, cultivating leaders and building winning teams. He is also the recipient of the national 2008 Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. Prior to leading Yum!, he was president of both KFC and Pizza Hut and held senior management positions at PepsiCo. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife. He is also the author of THE EDUCATION OF AN ACCIDENTAL CEO: Lessons Learned from the Trailer Park to the Corner Office (Crown Business, October 2007) that chronicles his personal journey to chairman and chief executive officer and the lessons that proved valuable along the way.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, is the world’s largest restaurant company in terms of system restaurants with more than 36,000 restaurants in more than 117 countries and 1.4 million company and franchise associates. Yum! is ranked #214 on the Fortune 500 List, with revenues of more than $11 billion in 2010. The Company’s restaurant brands – KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell – are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opened approximately four new restaurants each day of the year, making it a leader in international retail development. The Company has consistently been recognized for its reward and recognition culture, diversity leadership, community giving, and consistent shareholder returns.

Contact

Yum! Brands, Inc.
Virginia Ferguson, 502-874-8200
or
Weber Shandwick
Michael Schiferl, 312-988-2017

The product remains widely used as low-fat beef filling in burger meat, including in school meals. But some consumer advocates worry that attacks on the product by food activist Jamie Oliver and others will discourage food manufacturers from developing new methods of keeping deadly pathogens out of their products.

The beef is processed by Beef Products Inc. of Dakota Dunes at plants at Waterloo, Iowa, and in three other states. One of the company’s chief innovations is to cleanse the beef of E. coli bacteria and other dangerous microbes by treating it with ammonium hydroxide, one of many chemicals used at various stages in the meat industry to kill pathogens.

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Chains that are fancier than fast-food options but cheaper than sit-down alternatives are part of a hybrid sector known as fast-casual that is maturing into one of the food industry’s strongest.

That category is tapping into growing demand for more healthful, specialty foods that are still speedily served and moderately priced. Fast-casual is steadily poaching fast-food customers looking for better quality and sit-down diners seeking cheaper prices, said NPD analyst Bonnie Riggs.

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Taco Bell Taco 12 Pack Helps College Football Fans Claim MVP of Bowl Championship Series Parties

Irvine, CA  (RestaurantNews.com)  Looking for the perfect game day food to bring to your friend’s place for this year’s Bowl Championship Series (BCS) parties? Make the right call: steer clear of grocery stores, go up the middle, straight to Taco Bell® – an official BCS sponsor – and pick up the crowd-friendly Taco 12 Pack, available at participating locations starting Dec. 22 for a suggested price of $10. Prices may vary and exclude tax. This special limited time BCS box includes a dozen of Taco Bell’s classic, crunchy tacos boxed up and in-hand, and also features a unique QR code that gives fans exclusive ESPN video content and game analysis.

Available through a unique QR code, ESPN college football analyst Mark May breaks down each BCS bowl game (Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl, Discover Orange Bowl, Allstate BCS National Championship Game), as well as giving fans past BCS bowl game highlights plus current season highlights. Anybody picking up the meal will be able to go toe-to-toe with the guys in the booth – and no doubt be the best couch analyst at any gathering.

Taco Bell’s Taco 12 Pack will be featured in advertising on ESPN in the weeks before the game, and during the matchup itself – including a mini-mercial with May. The meal will be promoted in an integrated campaign that includes TV, radio advertising, in-store promotions, Web site and social media activity as well as public relations. The TV advertising, handled through Draftfcb, Orange County and beginning today, will include a 30-second spot called “Make an Entrance,” with a voiceover saying that you can tell a lot about a guy by what they bring to a party. The first guy: a bag of chips (“lazy,” “woke up late”). The second guy: a bag of ice (“I’m cheap, too”). Third: seven-layer dip (“his mom probably just dropped him off.”). The hero enters with a Taco Bell Taco 12 Pack, telling the party he’s “confident, original – and has at least 11 friends.”

About Taco Bell Corp.

Taco Bell Corp. (“Taco Bell”), a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), is the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, signature quesadillas, XXL Grilled Stuft Burritos, nachos, and other specialty items such as Crunchwrap Supreme®, in addition to the Why Pay More!® Value Menu. Taco Bell serves more than 36.8 million consumers each week in nearly 5,600 restaurants in the U.S.

“That’s why I quit eating here so much,” King said as she ate a Fiesta Taco Salad inside the Taco Bell on Cardinal Boulevard, near U of L’s Belknap Campus. “This is cheaper, but there’s no comparison to Qdoba Grilled Chicken Taco Salad. I really like Qdoba better.”

King’s experience encapsulates the challenge facing Yum! Brands’ Taco Bell chain, which must compete with fast-growing Mexican casual dining restaurants like Qdoba and Chipotle even as it tries to regain the sales lost from publicity surrounding a lawsuit early this year that claimed the filling in its tacos and burritos didn’t contain enough beef to be called that.

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Yum! Brands – the parent company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver’s and A&W – is lobbying to have food stamps be accepted at their restaurants.

“It makes perfect sense to expand a program that’s working well in California, Arizona and Michigan, enabling the homeless, elderly and disabled to purchase prepared meals with SNAP benefits in a restaurant environment,” Yum! spokesman Jonathan Blum told USA Today.

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World Hunger Relief is the world’s largest private sector hunger relief effort, spanning 110 countries, 38,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants and more than 1 million employees and franchise associates. The campaign raises awareness, volunteerism and funds for WFP and other hunger relief agencies.

The new PSA captures Aguilera standing on a dark stage that is artistically illuminated by sparkling lights held by children. As Aguilera sings a soulful a capella rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, graphics illustrate how millions of children go to bed hungry. She urges people to join her in turning hunger into hope.

The PSA will start airing in mid-October. Aguilera will also appear in World Hunger Relief restaurant posters with the quote “Together, we have the power to save lives and go from hunger to hope” and online efforts, including the campaign’s website, FromHungertoHope.com.

Aguilera has served as global spokesperson for World Hunger Relief since 2009. She also serves as an “Ambassador Against Hunger” for WFP where she has traveled on relief trips with the organization to Haiti and Guatemala.

“As a mother, I can’t accept that children around the globe are going hungry and that’s why I’m so passionate about this issue,” said Aguilera. “My new PSA for World Hunger Relief is a twist on a classic lullaby but also a reminder that every night, millions of children go to sleep hungry. It gives those children a voice and shows how together, we can give every child a chance to dream,” added Aguilera.

“With nearly 1 billion people going hungry around the world, as well as the desperate situation in the Horn of Africa, we all need to help find a solution to this critical issue,” said David Novak, Chairman and CEO, Yum! Brands, Inc. “We are thankful for Christina’s efforts to help us build awareness, inspire volunteerism and raise money to fight hunger. As a company with a huge heart, we believe it is our privilege and responsibility to do everything we can to make a difference and save lives.”

Hunger and malnutrition are the number one risk to health worldwide – greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Among the key causes of hunger are natural disasters, conflict, poverty, poor agricultural infrastructure and over-exploitation of the environment.

Recently, financial and economic crises, coupled with drought, high food prices and conflict affecting more than 13 million in the Horn of Africa, have pushed more people into hunger. Yum! is directing the first $1 million from its World Hunger Relief effort this year to help WFP provide food to families affected by hunger and suffering the effects of drought in the Horn of Africa. Novak and other senior executives and franchise leaders from KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Yum! Restaurants International also traveled to Honduras last month to help WFP’s relief efforts in the country.

“The world hunger relief campaign provides life-saving food and nutrition to millions of children, transforming desperation to hope,” said Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of WFP. “This support enables school meal programs in the world’s most food-insecure areas, helping ensure children are not only being nourished, but can attend school, helping break the cycle of hunger and poverty.”

Consumers can visit FromHungertoHope.com or donate in the restaurants (no purchase necessary – see calendar below for dates that each brand’s participating restaurants begin their in–store campaign). Every U.S. dollar raised will go directly towards WFP’s operations to fight hunger around the world. One U.S. dollar provides four meals for hungry children at school.

Yum! plans to generate the equivalent of nearly $50 million in awareness of the hunger issue through a PSA, advertising, public relations, web–based communications and in–restaurant posters. The Company’s employees and franchisees will be volunteering their time around the globe at hunger relief agencies, food banks, soup kitchens and launching fundraisers.

Since World Hunger Relief launched in 2007, more than one million of the Company’s employees, franchisees and their families have volunteered more than 21 million hours to aid hunger relief efforts in communities worldwide. The effort has raised nearly $85 million for WFP and other hunger relief organizations and is helping to provide more than 350 million meals and save the lives of millions of people in remote corners of the world.

Yum! is also addressing hunger across the U.S. through its Harvest program. Since its launch over two decades ago, Harvest has become the largest prepared-food donation program in the world. Through Harvest, Yum! has donated over 125 million pounds of food, with a value of over $500 million, to those at risk of hunger in the U.S. The Company also has been the primary sponsor of the Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville for nine years, and has donated nearly $9 million to this local agency.

Campaign Calendar: World Hunger Relief kicks off its fall campaign in the U.S. with Pizza Hut on September 25, Taco Bell on October 6 and KFC on October 17.