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For the past few years, the trendy, quick meal of choice hasbeen wraps--exotic ingredients wrapped inside brightly coloredtortillas. Wraps were touted as the gourmet meal forhealth-conscious consumers on-the-go--how else could you stuff thefour major food groups into an edible wrapper and eat it in thecar?
But now the hype has passed into a barely audible murmur. Willwraps stick around? "The wrap concept was successful and stillis," contends Julie Malveaux of the National RestaurantAssociation. "What we're seeing is a [redefining] of thecategory instead of a plethora of wrap restaurants out there."Which means wrap restaurants are now adding complementary itemslike smoothies, traditional sandwiches or ethnic foods to theirmenus, and nonwrap eateries are deciding whether wraps would be aprofitable addition to their traditional offerings.
Other experts say time's up for the wrap's 15 minutes offame. "It's not unusual in the restaurant business forpeople to get highly interested in a food item," says RaymondCoen, a restaurant marketing consultant in Pacific Palisades,California. "During the trial or novelty period, it generateshigh sales, then levels out and starts dying." Coen believessome wrap concepts may have staying power but only because so muchof the competition is shutting down.
Other theories as to why wraps may turn out to be a hyped fadrather than a lasting trend lie in consumer confusion about theconcept. "Wraps are so easy to replicate," says GregSchulson, founder of Chicago-based Burrito Beach LLC, a five-unitwrap and health-Mex chain. "It was easy for people in manydifferent segments of the restaurant business to put wraps on theirmenu. [Also,] it's hard to have a concept based around avehicle of serving as opposed to the food itself."
Further confusion stems from the frequent comparison toburritos. The difference is, wraps combine exotic, multiethnicingredients served hot or cold--a more versatile offering than theMexican burrito. Schulson used the confusion to his advantage bynaming his wraps after burritos to help his customers understandthe concept. "It gives people who are unfamiliar with wraps aneasy reference point for understanding [our menu.]"
So what's the fate of the wrap? "It has itsplace," says Coen. But where is that place? For mostrestaurants, wraps provide a healthy menu option that's easy toadapt seasonally to customers' tastes. As for restaurantssolely relying on the wrap concept, they'll have to extendtheir menus to entice enough customers through their doors.
