Culinology - March 2018 - 34

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sandwich performed phenomenally well, as
did our authentic Greek gyro sandwich," Chef
Craw said.
Perhaps the lifeblood of what he and his
team do is developing limited-time offers
(LTOs) that - if they sell really well - may be
added to the daily menu.
"Our gyros became permanent but were an
LTO first and so was our brisket," he said.
They test more than 1,000 menu items
each year, creating a constant flow of attention-grabbing LTOs that each remain on the
menu for about 45 days.
"To be here and be part of this team you
have to enjoy the craziness of this LTO world
because it entails a lot of tough decisions,"
Chef Craw said. "My main challenge is to
continuously find things that speak to our
customers and can be without major headaches for our team members, and that can
be put through our 3,300 restaurants to look
like we developed them in our test kitchen.

Going to the
next level

Fast food, slow cooked
Although Arby's audience consists of "a
little bit of everybody," including millennials,
paleo dieters and of course, protein-lovers,
its core consumers tend to scan between the
ages of 25 to 55.
"We don't necessarily focus on millennials,
but often we do introduce items to market to
a younger crowd," he said, "and many of our
customers are also blue collar, hard-working
carnivores, with families."
How does Chef Craw keep sandwiches
unique? It involves fun flavors and protein
exploration. "As long as there are consumers
willing to try things with a twist, we'll have a
ton of ways to keep things interesting from
our cooking techniques to how the food is
prepared," he said.
Chef Craw's team likes to work with
smoked meats - Arby's web site even has
a video showing its brisket smoking for 13
hours. Some of its proteins, such as venison

One of Arby's most innovative, buzz-worthy LTOs was its
venison sandwich, introduced last fall in five hunting-centric
states. Participating restaurants sold out of the sandwich within
hours, explained Chef Neville Craw, and it was launched nationally
following its popularity. "One restaurant in Nashville was even
painted in camouflage colors to resemble a hunting lodge," he said.
The sandwich featured a thick-cut venison steak and crispy
onions topped with a juniper berry sauce on a toasted roll. The
venison was marinated in garlic, salt and pepper and then sousvide for three hours. "The juniper berry sauce is a Cabernet
steak sauce infused with juniper berries, giving the
already unique sandwich another signature
twist," he added.
In 2012, he launched the Hey Chef
Neville! program, a way to solicit
new product ideas from front
line employees, Atlanta Support
Center team members and
franchisees. Several of the
winning submissions, including
a Cuban sandwich and
the Kings Hawaiian Fish
Deluxe, have been elevated to
the national Arby's menu or
slotted for an LTO.
Arby's venison sandwich was
launched at select restaurants as
an exclusive limited-time offer.

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Culinology | MARCH 2018

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