Adios: Taco Bell will discontinue kids’ meals completely

Taco Bell has announced that it will discontinue its kids’ meals in an effort to focus on an older clientele. The Irvine-based brand is the first fast-food restaurant chain to do away with kids’ meals altogether and will begin trimming its menus this month.

“As we continue our journey of being a better, more relevant Taco Bell, kids’ meals and toys simply no longer make sense for us to put resources behind,” Greg Creed, chief executive officer of Taco Bell, said in a news release.

The brand is focusing on its Doritos Los Tacos and Cantina Menu in its long-term brand strategy and other items that appeal to millennials -- that post-Generation X group with birth dates generally from the 1980s to the early 2000s.

Taco Bell said its kids’ meals had an “insignificant impact on system sales.”

Fast-food kids’ meals are becoming less and less attractive to children and their parents, according to a report by the NPD research group.

“In addition to the economic factor, kids have become more sophisticated, and just like adults, they want to try new things, new foods,” Bonnie Riggs, NPD restaurant industry analyst, said in the report. “Kids have a wider variety of foods and flavors available to them today than they have in the past.”

The kids’ meal page on the Taco Bell website already has been taken down, and the offerings will disappear from the chain’s menus nationwide by January 2014.

Before loyal fans younger than 12 start to cry, just remember you can still order your favorites. Items currently on the kids’ menu such as the crunchy taco, soft taco, bean burrito, cinnamon twist and cheese roll-up will still be available to order individually.

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