Food & Beverage

Nearly a year after chicken sandwich wars, a major QSR claim to fame comes out of the coop

Burgers and fries have always been the instant word associations with QSRs, but now, almost one year after last August's storied chicken sandwich wars, that association may be changing.

Could chicken soon replace burgers as the quintessential QSR meal? (Photo: iStock)

June 5, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Want to win a popularity contest? Turn yourself into some kind of fried chicken sandwich. KFC knows that, which is why that granddaddy brand of fried chicken is now testing its recently launched though plainly named, KFC Chicken Sandwich. It's even why smaller QSRs are breading up some poultry on a bun, like Golden Chick's Big & Golden. 

After all, last August, the war between Popeyes — which had just added its rendition of a fried chicken sandwich to its menu as an LTO — triggered a kind of customer allegiance war between that brand and Chick-fil-A, which has always proclaimed itself the inventor of the chicken sandwich. Sandwiches sold out. Customers flocked to QSRs and all and all, business was booming. 

Now location-based data analytics company, Placer.ai said its data shows the brands and QSRs in general are still benefiting from fried chicken face-off. For instance, the company said before the pandemic hit the U.S. restaurant industry up the side of the head in March, Popeyes' visits alone in January and February this year were up 63.5% and 56.1% respectively, over the same months a year earlier. 

In fact, even when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in earnest in March and April, Placer.ai's location-based traffic data indicates that visits at Popeye's were still up 6.9% and 2.6% respectively year-over-year. Similarly, all boats were lifted in this particular game, as self-proclaimed chicken sandwich progenitor, Chick-fil-A also continued solid sales, while KFC announced it was testing its "20% bigger" sandwich and even the smaller southern-focused chicken chain, Golden Chick, introduced its Big & Golden. 

So now, nearly a year after this poultry prize fight started, Placer.ai looked at its data and asked the simple question, "Does this battle have a clear chicken winner?"

"The short answer is no," the company said in an email explaining its chicken sandwich war numbers. "While Popeyes has had a truly tremendous rise, Chick-fil-A's overall lead is significant. In fact, at no point has Popeyes come within 2 million visits of Chick-fil-A." 

Additionally, the company said that when KFC began testing its new sandwich, the brand's visits rose 12.1% above the baseline level for visits there over the last 1½ years. But since Popeyes brought its history-making chicken sandwich back to its menu permanently in November, it has remained a QSR brand-leading phenom.

But at what point then do all these chicken sandwiches become too many for the chicken-loving public to  enthusiastically support with their dollars? Ethan Chernofsky, vice president of marketing at Placer.ai, said for now it looks like the sky's the limit.  

"Saturation is likely only a minor worry," Chernofsky told QSRweb. "While the visibility of chicken sandwiches is rising, we could have voiced the same concern about hamburgers or cups of coffee. Ultimately, product and brand differentiation will continue to drive visitors to those restaurants that have a great product that resonates with their core audience. 

"Additionally, with expectations of an extended period of economic uncertainty, the value of fast food becomes more significant, creating an environment where multiple brands could simultaneously enjoy strong results."

And maybe more important for the QSR industry, is Chernofsky's belief that the data on these chicken sandwich sales and restaurant visits suggests something even bigger might be at play. 

"It speaks to a new range of companies that are rapidly approaching the incredible heights achieved by McDonald's and Burger King," he said, referring to those brands and their burger-based claims to fame. "Chick-fil-A has already emerged as a true leader in the QSR space, and should Popeyes continue their rapid rise and maintain this level of product innovation, the same could quickly be said about them."

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.