In-N-Out Burger products

Infobox_Company
company_name = In-N-Out Burger
company_
company_type = Private
slogan = Quality You Can Taste
foundation = Baldwin Park, California, USA (1948)
location = Irvine, California
area_served = California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah
Industry = Restaurants]
key_people = Lynsi Martinez, Owner
Mark Taylor, President
Roger Kotch, CFO
revenue=estimated US$ 216.8 million (2007) [cite web |url=http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/105/105009.html |title=In-N-Out Burgers, Inc. Company Profile]
homepage = [http://www.in-n-out.com/ www.in-n-out.com]

When In-N-Out Burger first opened in 1948, the company provided only a basic menu of burgers, fries and beverages. The foods they prepared were made on location from fresh ingredients, including their french fries which were sliced and cooked to order. Unlike the other major competitors in the hamburger fast food restaurant business, Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's, as the chain grew in the intervening years they have not added products such as chicken and salads to their menu or changed their preparation methods. In the present, the company's menu still only lists burgers, fries and beverages advertised as being produced on site from fresh ingredients.

Instead of a broad menu like its competitors, In-N-Out has become known for its "Secret Menu", unadvertised variations on its burgers that are based on customer preferences.

Menu items

One reason In-N-Out has not expanded rapidly is that their food is never frozen. The delivery trucks are only able to travel a limited distance from In-N-Out's sole meat packing plant, where the company does its own boning, grinding, and portioning of fresh beef chuck. [cite news |author=Brad Schneider |title=Double-Double locks up the Beckham deal |url=http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/jul/17/double-double-locks-up-the-beckham-deal/ |publisher=Evansville Courier & Press |date=2007-07-17 |accessdate=2007-07-23 |quote=Decades ago, the Snyders purchased their own meat-packing plant to ensure the quality of their products. No In-N-Out restaurant was ever built more than a few hours drive from the plant so customers would get only fresh beef in their cheeseburgers. To this day, no In-N-Out burger is ever frozen.] The company's commitment to freshness has limited the restaurant's expansion to the states of Arizona, Nevada, California and Utah in 2008.

In-N-Out focuses on providing a basic menu with few changes since the restaurant was established in 1948. The simple menu consists of the following:
* Hamburger
* Cheeseburger
* "Double-Double" - a double cheeseburger

The "Secret Menu"

There are also "secret" item specials, variations of the basic menu that are not listed on the menus in the stores, nor advertised. A few of these variations are detailed on the company's web site.cite news |author=Tom McNichol |title=The Secret Behind A Burger Cult |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9E02E4D7113AF937A2575BC0A9649C8B63 |quote=Over the years, this trend has evolved into what's become known as the Secret Menu -- a list of popular burger variations that do not appear on the menu but are passed along by word of mouth. |publisher=The New York Times |page=Late Edition - Final, Section F, Page 1, Column 1 |date=2002-08-14 |accessdate=2007-07-21 ] cite web
url=http://www.in-n-out.com/secretmenu.asp |title=In-N-Out Burger Secret Menu |publisher=In-N-Out Burger|date=2006-08-08]

Burgers

All burgers consist of one or more 1/8 lb. beef patties cooked to "medium-well", and served on a toasted bun. The default style of burger includes tomato, leaf lettuce and "spread", a sauce similar to Thousand Island dressing. In addition, customers are asked if they wish to add raw or grilled onions.

The bulk of the secret menu revolves around the burgers. The company advertises that "Animal Style" is one the most popular "secret" styles; in addition to the standard toppings, Animal Style burgers include pickles, extra spread, grilled onions, and mustard fried onto each meat patty. "3×3" (pronounced 3-by-3), "4×4", or variations of "m" × "c", refers to a burger with a varied amount of meat patties, "m", and slices of cheese, "c": e.g. a burger with six meat patties and three slices of cheese is a "6×3". The In-N-Out "secret menu" section of the website only mentions the 3x3 and 4x4.cite web|url=http://www.in-n-out.com/secretmenu.asp|title=IN-N-OUT Burger] There are instances of extremely large sandwiches including a 100x100, [cite blog |url=http://whatupwilly.blogspot.com/2006/01/in-n-out-100x100.html |title=In-N-Out 100x100 |date=2006-01-23 |accessdate=2008-08-16 |quote=Personal account of a 100x100 sandwich.] and possibly the largest variation, a 666x666. It was created for a Caltech Ditch Day stack in Ricketts House in the spring of 1997. The sandwich was so large, the purchaser had to construct a steel trough to transport it. [cite book |coauthors=Autumn Looijen, Mason Porter |title=Legends of Caltech III |publisher=Caltech Alumni Association |date = May 2007 |url = http://legendsofcaltech.org/ | isbn = 978-0-9764321-0-4 ]

In-N-Out has two low carbohydrate offerings, akin to the Atkins diet. "Protein Style", introduced in the 1970s, [cite web |author= Daisy Nguyen |title=Bunless burgers old hat at In-N-Out |publisher=The Oakland Tribune |date=2004-03-26 |url=http://calbears.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20040326/ai_n14571110 |accessdate=2007-06-17 |quote=In fact, it was customers who gave it the name "protein style"," said Carl Van Fleet, the company's vice president of planning. "They also created it, in a sense, when they began requesting it in the early 1970s...] replaces the bun with large leaves of lettuce; while the "Flying Dutchman" is a 2x2 with no bun, vegetables, or spread.

Secret Menu variations

* Hamburgers - "Double Meat" or "Triple Meat" for multiple patties
* "Veggie Burger" - a sandwich containing only vegetables, without meat or cheese.
* Grilled cheese sandwich - served with tomato, lettuce and spread, also available Animal Style.
* Extra Everything - adds extra spread, tomato, lettuce, and onions (regular or grilled).
* Extra Toast - bun is toasted longer. [cite blog |url=http://www.badmouth.net/in-n-outs-secret-menu/ |title=In-N-Out’s secret menu |author=John Marcotte |publisher=Badmouth |date=2005-02-25 |accessdate=2008-08-16]
* Chopped Chilies - mild, pickled chopped peppers are added to the burger.
* Spread - packets of refrigerated "Spread".

Onion styles

The company's customization extends to the onions it serves. "Regular Onions" is default and is a whole slice of fresh onions, cooked with the burger. The company will also serve the slice cooked ("whole grilled"), raw chopped, raw whole, and grilled. How the onion are ordered will determine its placement on the sandwich, raw whole onions are placed with the cold ingredients, cooked onions are on the burger patty.

French fries

In-N-Out uses the Kennebec strain of potato for its fries and prepares them in store as opposed to purchasing them pre-made from companies such as McCain Foods, one of the primary manufacturer of french fries for the fast food industry. The company's french fries have always been fried in vegetable oil while other chains had originally used lard or beef tallow. [cite web| url=http://www.in-n-out.com/freshness.asp |date=2006-08-08 |title=IN-N-OUT Burger] Again the company will custom prepare its fries upon request.

Secret Menu variations

* Fries "Light" - Decreased cooking time for a softer product.
* Fries "Well" - Increased cooking time for a crispier product.
* Fries "No Boat" - Fries are placed directly onto the serving tray instead of the paper "boat".
* "Animal Style" - Cheese, spread, and grilled onions.
* Cheese fries - called fries with cheese

Beverages

The company serves the standard fast food fare for beverages, sodas and milkshakes. Its sodas include products from the Coca-Cola Company except Sprite; the company serves 7 Up as its lemon-lime soda and Dr. Pepper, both from the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. The company advertises its milkshakes as hand spun with ice cream as opposed to soft serve style sold at major chains.

Secret Menu variations

* Root beer floats
* "Lemon-Up" - a mixture of lemonade and 7 Up
* "Tea-ade" - known as an "Arnold Palmer", a mixture of iced tea and lemonade.
* Neapolitan shake

Trademarks

Like other fast food chains, the company has trademarked its signature products and concepts. In this case the terms "Animal Style", "Protein Style", "2x2", "3x3" and "4x4" are all federally registered marks. These products are all displayed with the "circle-R" (®) symbol in the company advertising.

See also

* Burger King products
* McDonald's products

References