The Reason Shake Shack Chose To Stick With Frozen Fries

It takes courage and more than a little humility to recognize when you've made a mistake — especially on a public scale. That's exactly what Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti did in 2014 when he issued an apology for replacing the restaurant's frozen crinkle-cut fries with thinner, hand-cut fries. Beyond the apology, Garutti listened to public opinion, revoked the change, and still managed to devise a solution that fit Shake Shack's mission, all while making customers happy.

The New York-based burger chain is one of the most popular fast food chains in America with a strong commitment to using premium high-quality ingredients. That's why in 2013, Shake Shack decided to change the single item on its menu that wasn't prepared fresh in its kitchen: the french fries. Some locations never made the switch at all, but the majority of restaurants had already undergone a full kitchen renovation and retraining by the time Garutti reversed the change. The decision to swap french fries backfired horrendously as customers truly disliked the new style and missed the crunchy texture of the frozen fries. Within just one year of launching the new fries, Shake Shack switched back to crinkle-cut.

While the frozen crinkle-cut fries were a beloved menu item, CEO Randy Garutti and other Shake Shack executives believed that they could do more to ensure freshness on the menu. The frozen fries didn't align with the brand's natural ingredient-based philosophy, so the original frozen Yukon gold potatoes were swapped in favor of russet potatoes to make the fries fresh. The new potatoes were double-fried, hand-cut, and hand-soaked. However, this resulted in a longer, more arduous french fry-making process with little room for error. In the months after launching fresh fries, Shake Shack's sales dropped considerably, but the choice to revert to crinkle-cut didn't manifest until Garutti viewed the change from a customer's perspective.

Garutti catered Shake Shack for his son's Little League team but chose not to order fries, knowing that by the time the food arrived, the fries would be soggy. It was this epiphany that made Garutti admit his mistake and decide to bring back the original Shake Shack fries — with a few changes. The new crinkle-cut fries were still frozen, but they were free of preservatives and other artificial ingredients, aligning more with the brand's mission to provide high-quality products. Just like that, Shake Shack's classic fries were back and better than ever. Here's to hoping it stays that way.