Wendy's Is Bringing Back the Peppermint Frosty Sooner Than You Think

The Wendy’s Frosty is as classic as any fast food dessert can get. As one of the five original menu items introduced in 1969, the soft-serve-meets-milkshake has been a beloved mainstay on the Wendy’s menu ever since. And while we love the classic vanilla and chocolate flavors, we’re also here to celebrate the new additions and the return of everyone’s favorite holiday flavor, the Peppermint Frosty.

“We love to experiment with new and exciting ways to bring our iconic Frosty to our biggest fans,” John Li, the global VP of culinary innovation at The Wendy’s Company, shared with Food & Wine. “The magic lies in innovation that builds upon the fandom of our core products that fans already know and love. We’re always listening to our consumers and doing our research on what is culturally relevant, along with our fans’ cravings, and delivering on the flavors that they just can’t get enough of without steering away from our principles. We’re all about being forward-leaning but don’t want to lose our legacy that Dave Thomas expertly built when he introduced Frosty to the masses.” 

This year, Wendy’s offered three seasonal flavors — the Strawberry Frosty over the summer, which was replaced by the Pumpkin Spice Frosty this fall, and soon, the Peppermint Frosty will replace that for the holiday season. How soon? According to Wendy’s, the Peppermint Frosty will roll out to menus nationwide on Nov. 14. 

“I’m proud of our culinary team’s success in launching all our Frosty flavors, [and] Peppermint is one flavor I’m truly proud of,” Li said. “The Peppermint Frosty launch in 2022 resulted in us selling the most Frosty treats we’ve ever sold during the winter time frame, proving that Frosty treats aren’t limited to warmer seasons. Consumers showed up in a big way and illustrated why seasonal flavor innovation is so important.”

As for how all of these new flavors came to be, Li says his team spent endless hours on research and design to meet consumer expectations on “their flavor journey.” 

“It tends to take us six months or longer to nail down a new flavor or product, however, we were able to develop the Peppermint flavor in less than 30 days,” Li added. “We worked collaboratively across our internal cross-functional teams and supplier partners to pull off something special in time for the holidays last year, and it did not disappoint.” We’re sure it won’t disappoint your taste buds this year, either.