The popularity of new fast-food chicken sandwiches is contributing to a nationwide shortage of chicken for foodservice.
Bloomberg reports that KFC and other franchises are having a hard time getting enough chicken for both new and established menu offerings. Bojangles, a chain based in North Carolina, stated on its corporate Twitter account, in response to a customer complaint about not being able to find chicken tenders, that it was “experiencing a system-wide shortage.”
KFC is also having problems, due to the popularity of its new fried-chicken sandwich, according to the head of Yum! Brands, KFC’s parent company. “Demand for the new sandwich has been so strong that, coupled with general tightening in domestic chicken supply, our main challenge has been keeping up with that demand,” CEO David Gibbs said in a conference call.
KFC’s chicken sandwich is selling twice as fast as the chain’s typical new menu introduction, and it has driven KFC to comparable-store sales that rose 14% in the last quarter year-over-year.
Chicken sandwiches have been hot sellers for quick-service chains since Popeye’s introduced a fried-chicken sandwich in 2019 that went viral. McDonald’s recently rolled out a fried chicken sandwich that it said is “far exceeding expectations.”
Poultry processors are struggling to keep up. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. says its biggest problem is labor, and it will spend $40 million extra this year on labor expenses, it told Reuters.
