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To win over today's diners, KFC is prioritizing boneless chicken menu items, expanding its sauce options and designing its restaurants to keep customers' attention.
These days, the Yum Brands chain is facing stiff competition, both from upstart chicken chains and legacy giants like McDonald's that are betting big on the growing global popularity of chicken. While KFC claims to have invented the chicken quick-service restaurant category, being the first isn't the same as being No. 1, particularly in the U.S., where its sales have slumped in recent years.
"In an increasingly crowded category, we have a clear opportunity to set the standard for modern chicken in QSR," KFC Global CEO Scott Mezvinsky said Monday in a statement announcing the chain's "next chapter."
Tenders and drinks
KFC's "next chapter" will focus on boneless options, like a revamped version of its chicken tenders.
Source: KFC
A focal point of the strategy is what KFC calls a "bold menu revamp."
As part of that, the chain plans to expand its boneless chicken options and improve its recipe for its existing tenders.
"We are moving from chicken-on-the bone to more and more boneless chicken," KFC Chief Concept Officer Christophe Poirier told CNBC.
"We are evolving our tenders to make sure that, nonnegotiable, we're going to have the biggest, the juiciest and the crispiest," he added.
KFC is also expanding its available sauces to appeal to consumers who like dunking, drenching or drizzling their chicken tenders. The chain's "global sauce pantry" has more than 20 varieties that often mix classic sauces with new flavors, like its chimichurri ranch. (KFC's tender- and sauce-centric spinoff restaurant chain Saucy, meanwhile, has grown to nearly a dozen locations, all in Florida.)
This month, restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland will begin rolling out the new tenders, as well as nine new sauces. Australia and the United States will follow later this summer, with more global markets expected throughout the rest of the year.
KFC is also launching a menu line called "Dunked," which features tenders, wings and sandwiches drenched in sauce. The menu items are already available in South Africa and India.
Like many fast-food restaurants, KFC is also expanding its range of drink options to include boba refreshers, sparkling lemonades and iced coffees under a new sub-brand called Kwench by KFC. Select Irish and British restaurants already sell Kwench drinks, but Australia and Canada will add them to their permanent menus this year.
"We can rapidly cascade a lot of initiatives that we're leading from the center," Poirier said, crediting the chain's nimble supply chain.
The chain's own restaurants will also look different as it rolls out new store designs. This summer, an "open-concept" restaurant in McKinney, Texas, will open its doors; an "immersive," two-story location in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will follow in September.
Poirier compared the experience of visiting its upcoming "immersive" restaurant to seeing a concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas. KFC designed the store to distract diners from their phones and keep them engaged with the in-person experience.
Fresh branding is also part of the strategy. The chain's new logo features its Colonel Sanders mascot bookended on either side with "KFC," resembling the shape of its famous chicken buckets. KFC said the bucket will be "refreshed," while Sanders will receive a "subtle evolution," according to the chain.
Challenges
A rendering of KFC's new restaurant design pays homage to the chain's iconic bucket and mascot Colonel Sanders.
Source: KFC
With more than 34,000 locations worldwide, KFC is one of the largest global restaurant chains. It is also an important part of Yum's portfolio, particularly as its parent company seeks a sale of its struggling sister chain Pizza Hut.
But KFC has its own challenges.
In the U.S., the chain has been ceding share for years to newcomers like Raising Cane's. In 2021, KFC held 16% of the U.S. market share for chicken quick-service restaurants, putting it in second place behind Chick-fil-A, according to Barclays. By 2024, its market share had slipped to 9.4%, and Popeyes and Raising Cane's had leapfrogged KFC, dragging the chain down to the fourth spot.
Outside the U.S., KFC has been more successful. Yum considers KFC International to be one of its two "growth engines," along with top performer Taco Bell.
In its latest quarter, KFC reported same-store sales growth of 2%. Yum no longer shares the same-store sales of the chain's domestic business, implying that the segment is now considered immaterial to the company's broader results. China and Europe are KFC's two largest regions by system sales, with the U.S. in third place.
To revive its flagging U.S. business, Yum tapped Catherine Tan-Gillespie as KFC's new U.S. president more than a year ago. So far, her turnaround efforts have involved offering more value meals and bringing back Colonel Sanders.
KFC U.S. has seen same-store sales growth in its last three quarters, Tan-Gillespie told trade publication Restaurant Business earlier this month.
