Three menu announcements crossed my desk this week that, on the surface, have nothing to do with commercial smoker operations. Popeyes added a new sandwich. Jimmy John's is testing something. Dutch Bros rolled out seasonal drinks. Standard fast-food news cycle stuff.
But I've been around this industry long enough to know that when the big chains make moves, it ripples outward. And some of these ripples matter to operators running production smokers in ways that aren't immediately obvious.
The Protein Pressure Is Real
Popeyes has been pushing hard on chicken sandwiches since their original launch caused actual fistfights in parking lots back in 2019. Their latest addition — a blackened chicken sandwich — isn't revolutionary. What's interesting is the positioning. They're going after the "lighter" angle, which tells you something about where consumer preferences are drifting.
Now, you might be thinking: Ray, what does a fast-food chicken sandwich have to do with my brisket operation?
Fair question. Here's the connection.
When chains pivot toward specific proteins or preparation styles, it affects wholesale pricing. It affects what your customers start expecting. And it affects the competitive environment you're operating in. If suddenly every quick-service restaurant within five miles is pushing blackened chicken, your smoked chicken quarters look different by comparison. Sometimes better — because smoke flavor is something a flat-top grill can't replicate. Sometimes you need to adjust your messaging.
I had a customer in Beaumont tell me last year that his smoked turkey breast sales jumped 40% after a nearby Chick-fil-A opened. His theory? People got tired of the same fried chicken taste and started seeking variety. He wasn't wrong to lean into that.
Jimmy John's and the Protein Expansion Problem
Jimmy John's has been testing roast beef options in select markets. This is a chain built on speed — they literally advertise "freaky fast" delivery. Adding roast beef to their lineup requires them to source, store, and slice a protein that's more temperature-sensitive than their standard turkey and ham offerings.
For operators already running smokers, this should get your attention. Not because Jimmy John's is competition for a BBQ restaurant (they're not), but because it signals that even convenience-focused chains see demand for beef options beyond the standard burger patty.
Smoked roast beef is one of those items I think a lot of BBQ operations overlook. Everyone's focused on brisket, ribs, pulled pork — the classics. But a properly smoked eye of round or sirloin tip, sliced thin? That's a sandwich platform that stands apart from what any chain can offer.
The production math works out pretty well too. You're already running your SP-1000 or SPK-1400 overnight for briskets. A few roasts tucked into the rotation don't add significant labor, and the margins on sliced beef sandwiches are usually better than selling brisket by the pound.
Something I saw repeatedly during service calls over the years: operators who diversified their protein mix got more consistent use out of their equipment. Instead of running the smoker hard Thursday through Sunday and letting it sit Monday through Wednesday, they'd stagger production. Smoked roast beef for lunch sandwiches. Turkey breasts for catering. Pulled pork for the weekend rush.
That kind of scheduling is easier on the equipment too. Thermal cycling — heating up, cooling down, heating up again — wears on gaskets and seals faster than consistent operation. The rotisserie bearings in Southern Pride units are built for continuous duty. I've seen SP-700 machines run 20+ years with original bearings because the operator understood that consistent use beats sporadic heavy use.
What Dutch Bros Tells Us About Dayparts
Okay, this one requires me to connect a few dots. Bear with me.
Dutch Bros is a drive-through coffee chain that's been expanding aggressively across Texas and the Southwest. Their seasonal menu additions are all beverages — energy drinks, flavored coffees, that sort of thing. No food to speak of.
But here's what matters: they're pulling traffic during morning and early afternoon hours. A lot of traffic. The locations I've driven past have lines wrapping around buildings at 7 AM and again at 2 PM.
If you're a BBQ operator near a Dutch Bros (or similar high-traffic coffee/drink spot), there's an opportunity sitting there. Those customers are already in their cars, already in buying mode, already looking for convenient options. An 11 AM lunch crowd that just grabbed an iced coffee might be very interested in a smoked brisket sandwich from the place two doors down.
This is really about location awareness and timing your production. If your peak prep window can shift to have fresh product ready when the coffee rush disperses, you're catching customers at the right moment.
I'll admit this is the kind of operational thinking I didn't appreciate when I was younger and just focused on keeping machines running. But watching hundreds of different operations over two decades, the ones that thrived paid attention to traffic patterns — not just their own, but what was happening around them.
Production Planning When the Market Shifts
The common thread in all these menu announcements is that chains are constantly adjusting. They have corporate teams analyzing data, testing markets, rolling things out and pulling them back. Independent operators don't have that infrastructure, but you do have something they don't: flexibility.
When Popeyes commits to a new sandwich, that decision went through months of supply chain analysis, franchisee negotiations, and marketing budget allocation. When you decide to add smoked turkey thighs to your Wednesday special, you can make that call Tuesday night.
The equipment has to support that flexibility. This is where I've seen the real separation between Southern Pride machines and some of the alternatives. Consistent temperature recovery means you can load different proteins at different times and trust the cook. The rotisserie systems handle mixed loads without constant babysitting. I've watched operators run brisket on the bottom racks, chicken quarters in the middle, and sausage links on top, all coming out right because the airflow and heat distribution actually work the way they should.
Try that with some of the cheaper import smokers and you'll get hot spots, uneven smoke distribution, and a lot of wasted product while you figure out the quirks. I spent more hours than I'd like to remember troubleshooting temperature inconsistencies in off-brand equipment — problems that just didn't exist in properly maintained Southern Pride units.
The Parts Availability Factor
One more thing these chain menu moves reminded me of: supply chain matters.
When a big chain adds a menu item, they've already locked up supplier contracts. They've got distribution networks in place. They're not worried about whether they can get product next Tuesday.
For your smoker equipment, the same principle applies. I've taken calls from operators running competitor brands who needed a control board or ignition module and were looking at 4-6 week waits because the parts ship from overseas. Meanwhile, Southern Pride parts are domestically stocked. When something does fail — and everything eventually needs service — the downtime difference between "three days" and "six weeks" can mean the difference between a minor inconvenience and a genuine business crisis.
Southern Pride of Texas keeps the common wear items on hand. Gaskets, thermocouples, ignitor assemblies, bearings. The stuff that actually fails in the field, not just the stuff that looks good in a catalog.
Reading the Tea Leaves
I don't pretend to know exactly what consumer preferences will look like in two years. Nobody does, regardless of what their market research claims. But paying attention to what the big players are testing gives you early signals.
More blackened and grilled options from fried chicken chains suggests customers are thinking about preparation methods, not just flavors. Roast beef showing up at sandwich shops means beef demand remains strong despite pricing pressures. Coffee chains pulling traffic all day means the old "lunch rush" model might need rethinking.
None of this tells you to change everything about your operation. But it might tell you to experiment with a smoked beef sandwich special. Or adjust your morning prep schedule. Or think about that strip center location differently.
The operators I respected most over the years were the ones who stayed curious. They read industry news not to copy anyone, but to understand what was changing. They visited other restaurants — BBQ and otherwise — to see what was working. They treated their equipment as a tool for responding to opportunities, not just a machine that runs the same program forever.
Your Southern Pride smoker can handle more versatility than most operators ever ask of it. The MLR-850 wasn't designed for brisket-only duty. The SC-300 isn't just a rib warmer. These are production tools, and production should respond to what the market is telling you.
So next time you see a headline about some chain adding a menu item, don't just scroll past. Ask yourself what it means for your customers, your area, your production schedule. The answer might be nothing. But sometimes it's the start of your next good idea.
Resources: Southern Pride of Texas | QSR Magazine | Restaurant Business Online
#BBQBusiness #SouthernPride #FoodService #CommercialBBQ #RestaurantIndustry #RestaurantOwner #RestaurantOps #CateringLife
Photo by Hamit Ferhat on Pexels.
About the Author: Ray is a retired authorized Southern Pride service technician with 22 years of field experience on commercial BBQ equipment across the Gulf Coast and Southeast.