Taco Bell’s Chinese foray to test appetite for nacho cheese

Taco Bell, which is making a return to China this year, is betting that the country wants quesadillas and tacos made with warm nacho-cheese sauce.

The chain is adjusting its menu to meet local tastes, and that includes having the food be hotter when it arrives, said Shivram Vaideeswaran, the brand’s global marketing and innovation director. Americans were more forgiving than the Chinese about the temperature of their food, and the warm nacho-cheese approach had not been tried before, he said. In the United States, crunchy tacos are made with cheddar cheese – typically room-temperature – while quesadillas have a three-cheese blend.

“Having food that’s incredibly warm is very important in Chinese culture,” Vaideeswaran said in an interview on Thursday. “It’s warm, it’s melty, and it’s really good.”

Taco Bell’s latest push into China should come in late December, Vaideeswaran said, making it an early test of the company’s plan to split off its Chinese operations. But the opening could slip until next year, he said.

Taco Bell’s owner, Yum Brands, expects to complete the spin-off of its business in China by the end of this month. The new company, Yum China Holdings, will pay a licensing fee to operate KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in China.