KFC is promoting boneless chicken and new drinks as the chain tries to regain share

To appeal to today’s diners, KFC is prioritizing boneless chicken menu items, expanding sauce options and designing its restaurants to capture customers’ attention.

these days, Yum brands The unit faces intense competition, both from emerging chicken chains and legacy giants such as… McDonald’s Which is betting big on the growing global popularity of chicken. While KFC claims to have invented the chicken quick-service restaurant category, being first does not mean being No. 1, especially in the United States, where its sales have declined in recent years.

“In an increasingly crowded category, we have a clear opportunity to set the standard for modern chicken in quick-service restaurants,” KFC Global CEO Scott Mezvinsky said Monday in a statement announcing the chain’s “next chapter.”

The focal point of the strategy is what KFC calls its “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’re moving from bone-in chicken to more and more boneless chicken,” Christophe Poirier, KFC’s chief concept officer, told CNBC.

He added: “We are developing our tenders to ensure that we get the biggest, juiciest and crunchiest, which is non-negotiable.”

KFC is also expanding the range of sauces available to appeal to consumers who like to dip, drenched or drizzle their chicken pieces. The chain’s “Global Sauce Warehouse” stocks more than 20 varieties that often blend classic sauces with new flavors, like ranch chimichurri. (At the same time, KFC’s Saucy restaurant chain, which focuses on tenders and sauce, has grown to nearly a dozen locations, all in Florida.)

This month, restaurants in the UK and Ireland will begin rolling out the new tenders as well as nine new sauces. Australia and the US 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” that 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 beverage options to include boba refreshments, sparkling lemonade and iced coffee under a new sub-brand called Kwench by KFC. Some Irish and British restaurants already sell Quinch drinks, but Australia and Canada will add them to their permanent menus this year.

“We can quickly cascade a lot of the initiatives we’re driving from the centre,” thanks to the chain’s intelligent supply chain, Poirier said.

The chain’s restaurants will also look different as new store designs are introduced. This summer, an “open” restaurant in McKinney, Texas, will open its doors; This will be followed by a two-storey “immersive” location in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in September.

Poirier compared the experience of visiting her upcoming “immersive” restaurant to watching a concert at Sphere in Las Vegas. KFC designed the store to distract diners from their phones and keep them engaged in the in-person experience.

A new brand is also part of the strategy. The chain’s new logo features the Colonel Sanders mascot engraved on both sides with the word “KFC,” resembling the shape of its famous chicken buckets. KFC said the bucket will be “refreshed,” while the Sanders will get a “subtle twist,” according to the chain.

With more than 34,000 locations worldwide, KFC is one of the largest global restaurant chains. It’s also an important part of Yum’s portfolio, especially as the parent company seeks to sell its struggling sister chain Pizza Hut.

But KFC has its own challenges.

In the United States, the chain has been ceding share for years to newcomers like Raising Cane’s. In 2021, KFC had 16% of the U.S. market share for quick-service chicken restaurants, putting it in second place behind Chick-fil-A, according to Barclays. By 2024, its market share had fallen to 9.4%, and Popeyes and Raising Cane had leapfrogged KFC, dropping the chain to fourth place.

Outside the United States, KFC has been more successful. Yum considers KFC International one of its “growth engines,” along with high-performing Taco Bell.

In the most recent quarter, KFC reported same-store sales growth of 2%. Yum no longer shares same-store sales for the chain’s domestic business, meaning that segment is now considered unimportant to the company’s broader results. China and Europe are KFC’s top two regions in terms of system sales, with the United States in third place.

In order to revive its faltering business in the United States, Yum appointed Catherine Tan Gillespie as the new president of the KFC restaurant chain in the United States more than a year ago. So far, her turnaround efforts have included serving more value meals and bringing back Colonel Sanders.

KFC US has seen same-store sales growth in the last three quarters, Tan Gillespie told trade publication Restaurant Business earlier this month.