KFC owner Yum Brands launches a saucy spinoff as fast food finds its savior in chicken
Ketchup is shaking… Yum! Brands is betting people want to buy the dip. Next week, the fast-food titan plans to open a hot pink KFC spinoff called Saucy centered around — you guessed it — sauces. Customers can order sauce flights from a list of 11 options (five of them are variations on ranch) to pair with chicken tenders. The first Saucy will be in Orlando, and Yum said it’s planning to open more locations. It’s the Taco Bell and Pizza Hut parent’s latest attempt to fix its sales slump.
Empty buckets: Last month, Yum reported a 5% drop in KFC’s quarterly same-store US sales, marking the third straight quarter of declines for its fried chicken chain. Pizza Hut’s sales also fell, while Taco Bell’s continued to grow (it’s the jewel of Yum’s portfolio).
Fast ain’t enough: Price hikes have ticked off fast-food customers. Now, chains like McDonald’s and Burger King are pushing promos and new menu items to lure back diners.
Tastes like chicken… On the surface, Saucy is about the sauce — but it’s also a fresh way to hawk chicken, which has become the star of the fast-food world. The number of hen-based menu items eaten at quick-service restaurants is up 11% since 2019. Fast-foodies are piling new poultry items onto menus, from McDonald’s Chicken Big Mac to Applebee’s Big Cluckin’ Chicken Sandwich. Chains from Wendy’s to Shake Shack are duking it out to win the chicken sando wars. Americans are eating more and more birds, from 50 lbs a year per person in 1970 to more than 100 lbs this year.
Money clucks… While health concerns surrounding red meat likely play a role in the chicken boom, the largest factor may be price. Whole chickens were $2/lb on average last month, while ground beef rose to $5.63/lb. The chicken-cow price difference is big, and a US cattle shortage and potential meat packer greedflation hasn’t helped beef’s case.