ORLANDO, Fla. — The willingness to “serve anything on the menu, any time of day,” is one the unique equities that San Diego-based fast-food chain Jack in the Box has working in its favor to drive value creation, said Leonard Comma, chairman and CEO, in a Jan. 13 presentation at the Integrated Corporate Relations XChange in Orlando.

Comma said Jack in the Box’s ability to stand out from other fast-food chains in the late night daypart is probably the best example of who it is as a brand.


“It’s the opportunity for Jack in the Box to differentiate itself by really cutting through all the clutter and clearly going after the target that seems to love our brand,” he said. “And so, the late-night crowd has been beloved by Jack in the Box, and I believe they have loved us as much throughout the years, and we have had this equity long before many of the other brands in the industry as we have been a 24/7 player at most of our sites for a very long time.

“But we have noticed that many brands are going after the same daypart that we hold this equity in, and so we have decided to double down on this and really go right after this late-night segment by attracting them with what we think they want, which is four new decadent late-night products,” he added.

The new products — Stacked Grilled Cheeseburger, Exploding Cheesy Chicken, Loaded Nuggets and a Brunch Burger — are packaged in a Munchie Meal that comes with Halfsie fries, which is regular and curly fries, two tacos, and a 20-oz drink for $6.

“It’s an opportunity for us to give a great value to the late-night crowd, but we also bring it to life with unique music that starts at 9 pm, unique lighting, and also uniforms,” Comma said.

He stressed that the new focus is “not just a bunch of new products.”

“It’s an entire new way for us to do business at late night,” he said. “We really think we bring this to life for that crowd, and it's been paying off nicely for us. So you can expect to see us do more in this area and you can expect to see us attack other dayparts in similar fashion.”

Founded in 1951, Jack in the Box Inc. is a restaurant company that operates and franchises Jack in the Box restaurants and — through a wholly owned subsidiary — Qdoba Mexican Grill restaurants in a combined 46 states plus the District of Columbia and Canada. Jack in the Box has more than 2,250 quick-serve restaurants in 21 states. In addition to drive-thru windows, most restaurants have indoor dining areas and are open 18 to 24 hours a day.