Taco Bell tickles Chinese taste buds with hotter food

Taco Bell, which will make its first foray into China this year, is betting that the country wants quesadillas and tacos made with warm nacho-cheese sauce, according to Bloomberg.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 are more forgiving than the Chinese about the temperature of their food, and the warm nacho-cheese approach hasn't been tried before, he said. In the US, 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. 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.This isn't Taco Bell's first push into China. The chain opened locations in the country in China in 2003, but that expansion didn't take off. The company hopes the latest attempt is different. The new restaurant will be located in Shanghai, the country's largest city.