The chicken sandwich wars is a marketing trend in the United States during which a great number of American quick serve restaurant chains introduced fried chicken sandwiches to their menus. The phenomenon began in 2019 when Popeyes and Chick-fil-A disputed which of them was first to serve such an item. Over 20 American fast food brands added fried chicken sandwiches to their menus during the next two years.
On August 12, 2019, Popeyes introduced a fried chicken sandwich to its menu, an addition that prompted Chick-fil-A (a chain that had seen its market share increase in the 21st century, buoyed by increasing American consumption of chicken [1] ) to claim – in a Tweet – that its own fried chicken sandwich predated Popeyes' sandwich. [2] A tête-à-tête on social media between the two restaurant chains followed, which The New York Times reported "captivated the internet for ... [a] week and a half". [2] [3] [4]
By the end of 2019, Popeyes had seen a 38 percent increase in sales, with the surge in business largely attributed to its new chicken sandwich. [2] In a November episode of the comedy serial Saturday Night Live , Harry Styles starred in a sketch that parodied the popularity of the Popeyes chicken sandwich. [5]
In response to the perceived popularity of the Popeyes menu item, additional fast food chains added or expanded fried chicken sandwich offerings to their own menus. [2] By January 2021, more than 20 American fast food brands had introduced or re-released chicken sandwiches. [2] In addition to Popeyes and Chick-fil-A, they included: Golden Chick, KFC, Fatburger, Church's Chicken, Wendy's, BurgerFi, Zaxby's, Fuku, Jack in the Box, Sonic, Carl's Jr., Shake Shack, Boston Market, McDonald's, Pollo Campero, Taco Bell (which introduced its Chicken Sandwich Taco), Bojangles, Panera Bread, Burger King, and Panda Express (which introduced its Orange Chicken Sandwich). [2] In a July 2021 marketing stunt, Airheads candy also introduced a limited edition, novelty chicken sandwich in conjunction with Chicago restaurant Frances' Deli & Brunchery. [6] The sandwich was served on a bun made out of the sour candy. [6]
Popeyes called for a truce on July 28, 2021, as part of a promotion for a "We Come in Piece" 8-piece chicken nugget menu item. Popeyes further purchased $1,000,000 of chicken nuggets from its competitors, and donated these to the Second Harvest Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana. [7] The Chicken sandwich wars became "less intense" after 2021 and consumer preferences for chicken sandwiches had changed little from that time through to 2023. [8] Rabobank Protein Analyst Christine McCracken has speculated that high beef prices may result in a resurgence of the conflict. [9]
According to Edison Trends, "online spending on chicken sandwiches across all restaurants in this analysis combined grew 420% between January 2019 and December 2020." [10] This was likely driven by the shift toward online spending during the pandemic. In April 2021, McDonald's franchisees were selling about 262 chicken sandwiches per day. [11]
Due to the onset and intensity of the Chicken Sandwich Wars, combined with existing supply chain disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, shortages of chicken were reported in the United States beginning in the spring of 2021. [12] The National Chicken Council sought to allay public concerns about disruptions to the nation's poultry supply, with a council spokesperson stating in May of that year that there was "a very tight supply but short of a shortage". [12] The same month, the price of chicken in the United States reached a three-year record high, with the pricing surge principally attributed by The Birmingham News to the Chicken Sandwich Wars. [13] Popeyes, meanwhile, began stockpiling chicken in advance of a planned summer menu expansion. [14]
A hamburger, also called a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.
Chick-fil-A, Inc. is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in College Park, Georgia, Chick-fil-A operates 3,059 restaurants across 48 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company also has operations in Canada, and previously had restaurants in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The restaurant has a breakfast menu, as well as a lunch and dinner menu. The chain also provides catering services.
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken restaurants formed in 1972 in New Orleans, Louisiana and headquartered in Miami. It is currently a subsidiary of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International. As of 2021, Popeyes has 3,705 restaurants, which are located in more than 46 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 30 countries worldwide. About 50 locations are company-owned; the vast remainder are franchised.
The McChicken is a chicken sandwich sold by the international fast food restaurant McDonald's. In some countries, such as Australia, Fiji, India, New Zealand, and the UK, it is considered to be a chicken burger, especially given it is not a sandwich as that word is understood in some of those non-American varieties of English. It consists of a toasted wheat bun, a breaded patty, shredded lettuce and mayonnaise.
The TenderCrisp is a chicken sandwich sold by international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King and its Australian franchisee, Hungry Jack's. It is one of their "indulgent" products.
A wrap is a culinary dish made with a soft flatbread rolled around a filling.
A value menu is a group of menu items at a fast food restaurant that are designed to be the least expensive items available. In the US, the items are usually priced between $0.99 and $2.99. The portion size, and number of items included with the food, are typically related to the price.
The Big King sandwich is one of the major hamburger products sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King, and was part of its menu for more than twenty years. As of March 2019, it is sold in the United States under its 1997 Big King XL formulation. During its testing phase in 1996–1997, it was originally called the Double Supreme and was configured similarly to the McDonald's Big Mac—including a three-piece roll. It was later reformulated as a more standard double burger during the latter part of product testing in 1997. It was given its current name when the product was formally introduced in September 1997, but maintained the more conventional double cheeseburger format.
BK Chicken Fries are a fried chicken product sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. At the time of their introduction in 2005, the company had intended Chicken Fries to be one of their larger, adult-oriented products made with higher-quality ingredients than their standard menu items. Additionally, the product further targeted the snacking and convenience food markets with a specific packaging design that was intended to be easier to handle and fit into automotive cup holders. The product was part of a series of product introductions designed to expand Burger King's menu with both more sophisticated fare and present a larger, meatier product that appealed to 24- to 36-year-old males. Along with this series of larger, more complex menu products, the company intended to attract a larger, more affluent adult audience who would be willing to spend more on the better-quality products. They were discontinued in the United States in 2012, but continued to be sold in some markets, such as Italy. In August 2014, they were reintroduced for a limited-time offering (LTO) in North America, leading to their permanent re-addition to the menu in March 2015 in over 30 countries globally.
A chicken sandwich is a sandwich that typically consists of boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh, served between slices of bread, on a bun, or on a roll. Variations on the "chicken sandwich" include the chicken burger, chicken on a bun, chicken on a Kaiser, hot chicken, or chicken salad sandwich.
When the predecessor of international fast food restaurant chain Burger King (BK) first opened in 1953, its menu predominantly consisted of hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. After being acquired by its Miami, Florida franchisees and renamed in 1954, BK began expanding its menu by adding the Whopper sandwich in 1957, and has since added non-beef items such as chicken, fish, and vegetarian offerings, including salads and meatless sandwiches. Other additions include a breakfast menu and beverages such as Icees, juices, and bottled waters. As the company expanded both inside and outside the United States, it introduced localized versions of its products that conform to regional tastes and cultural or religious beliefs. To generate additional sales, BK occasionally introduces limited-time offers of special versions of its products, or brings out completely new products intended for either long- or short-term sales. Not all of these products and services have been successful; in 1992, Burger King introduced limited table service featuring special dinner platters, but this concept failed to generate interest and was discontinued.
A spicy chicken sandwich is a sandwich made of a boneless white breast of chicken whose breading is seasoned with a spicy blend of peppers and spices. Common seasonings include garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, cracked pepper, jalapeno juice, and crushed red pepper flakes, which are stirred into the bread crumbs. The chicken can be brined if desired and then dipped in hot sauce and/or buttermilk and egg, breaded with the flour, cornstarch, bread crumbs, spices, etc.; and then either baked, pressure cooked, or fried in such oils as peanut oil or canola oil. A smoky, chili pepper sauce or sriracha mayo or a spread with such ingredients as mayonnaise, Dijon sauce, lemon juice, celery seeds, pickle juice, hot sauce, and freshly ground black pepper, may be used. Commonly the chicken sandwich is served on a kaiser roll with such toppings as mayo, iceberg lettuce, tomato, shredded cabbage, bread and butter pickle slices, coleslaw, or Monterey Jack cheese.
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. McDonald's traces its origins to a 1940 restaurant in San Bernardino, California. After expanding within the United States, McDonald's became an international corporation in 1967, when it opened a location in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. By the end of the 1970s, McDonald's restaurants existed in five of the Earth's seven continents; an African location came in 1992 in Casablanca, Morocco.
The fast-food restaurant chain Burger King was the first major fast food chain to introduce a grilled chicken sandwich to the marketplace, in 1990, six months before Wendy's and four years before McDonald's. Since then, Burger King, and its Australian franchise Hungry Jack's have offered a variety of grilled chicken sandwiches, as have Wendy's and McDonald's.
KFC is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, one of the largest restaurant companies in the world. KFC had sales of $23 billion in 2013. KFC is incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law, and has its headquarters at 1441 Gardiner Lane, Louisville, Kentucky, in a three-story colonial style building known colloquially as the "White House" due to its resemblance to the US president's home. The headquarters contain executive offices and the company's research and development facilities.
