Taco Bell is releasing twice as many new menu items this year. Just don't get too attached.

• Taco Bell and other chains are leaning into limited-time-offer menu items as a way to experiment.
• These "LTOs" often sell out or are simply removed from menus after their time is up.
• It means fans shouldn't get attached to new items, even the ones everyone seems to be obsessed with.

Fast-food fans are getting breadcrumbed by their favorite new menu items.

At Taco Bell's Live Más Live event earlier this month, the chain announced it will launch twice as many new menu items this year as it did in 2024. Many of these are limited-time offers, or LTOs.

They include:

• Toasted Cheddar Street Chalupa
• Grilled Cheese Burrito with Shredded Beef
• Crispy Chicken Nuggets
• Flamin' Hot Burrito
• Rolled Poblano Quesadilla
• Quesocrisp Taco
• Mountain Dew Baja Midnight

But even if these items prove to be popular, there's no guarantee they'll stick around.

LTOs let chains experiment with trends without investing too heavily

While testing LTOs, brands can keep their year-round menus small, avoiding the commitment and extensive testing of permanent additions.

If the release flops, the chain can quietly phase it out without the hassle of removing a permanent item and having to explain why.

But if it's a hit, the chain can either make it a permanent menu item or bring it back for another limited-time run in the future, roping in fans who've been waiting for it to come back.

"There's only so much that you can learn in the test market, throughout the whole marketing machine behind a line," Taco Bell's chief marketing officer, Taylor Montgomery, told Business Insider about the benefits of releasing limited-time offerings. "You learn really quickly what hits and what doesn't."

Taco Bell's chief food innovation officer, Liz Matthews, told BI that testing some items for short periods of time means the brand can simultaneously be more thoughtful about permanent additions like its Cantina menu.

"We were very intentional with every single ingredient, sauce, and how it would all work on the menu, and we tested it for a long period of time before we launched it," she said. "I think there's a little more freedom when it's a shorter period of time."

Phasing items on and off fast-food menus can increase demand when they inevitably return

Knowing that an item may only be around for a few months — or even a few weeks — can create a sense of urgency for customers.

Seasonal menu items like McDonald's Shamrock Shake, Starbucks' pumpkin-spice latte, and Popeyes' fish sandwich typically return to menus each year and then promptly disappear when the season is over.

Fans of these menu items know and accept this fact, though perhaps begrudgingly. Customers look forward to having them again each year when St. Patrick's Day, fall, or the Lent season rolls around.

There are non-seasonal LTOs, too — Taco Bell's wildly popular Mexican Pizza was originally introduced as an LTO, but it made multiple short-term returns to menus over the years.

In May 2022, the chain reported that demand for Mexican Pizza was seven times higher after its return to menus, resulting in the chain running out of ingredients to make it. In September of that year, it was added to menus as a permanent fixture.

McDonald's has seen similar success with items like its McRib sandwich. The item has popped up on menus — only to promptly disappear again — multiple times over the past few years.

Michael Della Penna, chief strategy officer at marketing at InMarket, told CNN this is a common "playbook" for many quick-service chains.

"Bringing back old favorites like the McRib is one of the tools that they use to drive interest and demand," Della Penna said. "It gets people excited about visiting. It gets people nostalgic when they remember the product and want to try it again."

Diners might feel like they're in a 'situationship' when their favorite new menu item vanishes

When a fan-favorite LTO disappears, customers may feel frustrated or even betrayed by the brand, leading to possible negative feedback online or diehard fans petitioning to bring the item back.

For chains, there's no better sign that they're onto something.

When Taco Bell released its chicken nuggets for a limited time in January, the nuggets sold out, leaving many diners empty-handed. In response, the chain is bringing the nuggets back twice this year, in addition to its host of other LTOs.

"Our goal is to make crispy chicken permanent," Montgomery told BI at Taco Bell's Live Más Live event in March, calling the first release "a big experiment."

Montgomery said that when the chain originally tested the chicken nuggets with consumers, "it tested OK."

"We launched it for four weeks to see how consumers responded to it, and we ran out in half the time," he said. "So, that's why we're bringing crispy chicken back for 21 weeks [in 2025]. And maybe it's permanent in 2026."

Chains know some LTOs aren't meant to last, but that's the fun of it

It's too early to say whether the on-and-off relationship people have had with Taco Bell's chicken nuggets and Flamin' Hot Burrito will have a similar effect as that of the Mexican Pizza or McRib.

However, chain executives are optimistic that LTOs will continue to drive brand excitement and engagement in 2025.

"There are some things that are just fun that we're not necessarily going to put on the menu full time, and we know it going in, and we're OK with that," Matthews said. "We want to bring some fun innovation and have people get excited about it."

Think of limited-time offers as a fun fling — they may not stick around forever, but there's always a chance they'll make a comeback.

So enjoy them while they last, and know that it's rarely a goodbye, just a "see you later."