KFC announced a broad overhaul of its menu, restaurant design, and visual identity on Sunday, beginning in the U.K. and Ireland before spreading to Australia, the U.S., and additional markets through the rest of the year.
The Yum Brands chain is expanding boneless chicken options, launching a new sauce lineup, and redesigning stores as it faces growing competition
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KFC announced a broad overhaul of its menu, restaurant design, and visual identity on Sunday, beginning in the U.K. and Ireland before spreading to Australia, the U.S., and additional markets through the rest of the year.
Nine new sauces and updated tenders are rolling out across the U.K. and Ireland this month, part of a global sauce portfolio the company says spans more than 20 varieties. Among the available varieties is a chimichurri ranch; KFC said individual markets can tailor sauce offerings to regional preferences.
Tenders, wings, and sandwiches served soaked in sauce are the basis of a new offering KFC is calling Dunked. It is already available in South Africa and India. A drinks sub-brand called KWENCH by KFC, covering boba refreshers, sparkling lemonades, and iced coffees, is graduating from a limited run in Britain and Ireland to full-time placement on menus in Australia and Canada this year.
KFC Chief Concept Officer Christophe Poirier told CNBC that the chain is moving away from bone-in chicken. "We are moving from chicken-on-the-bone to more and more boneless chicken," he said. "We are evolving our tenders to make sure that, nonnegotiable, we're going to have the biggest, the juiciest and the crispiest."
On the physical footprint side, KFC plans to debut an open-concept store in McKinney, Texas, before summer ends, followed by a two-story location in Dubai later in the fall. KFC Global CEO Scott Mezvinsky said in a statement that the changes are meant to bring "new energy and expression to what makes us iconic."
Both the brand's signature bucket and its Colonel Sanders mascot are being updated — the bucket with a refresh and Sanders with what the company describes as a subtle evolution — with the new look rolling out across packaging, digital platforms, advertising, and store interiors.
KFC operates more than 34,000 locations across more than 150 countries. Domestically, the chain's standing has eroded sharply: data cited by the CNBC shows it commanded 16% of the U.S. chicken quick-service market in 2021 but just 9.4% by 2024, a slide that left it behind Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and Raising Cane's. Yum has designated KFC International and Taco Bell as the two pillars driving its international expansion, the company said. KFC reported same-store sales growth of 2% in its most recent quarter.
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