The hottest item in the burger business is chicken.
At least ten major U.S. fast food chains have introduced fried chicken sandwiches in the past three months, or will be established soon. Many of those selling new poultry items are better known as burger chains, including McDonald’s Corp., Shake Shack Inc. and Jack in the Box Inc.
Restaurant operators, faced with the slowdowns and restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, aim to capture consumer enthusiasm for crunchy breaded chicken sandwiches. This fervor helped turn Chick-fil-A Inc. in one of the nation’s leading fast food chains for the past decade, and made Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. offer a sensation on social media after its debut in 2019.
The chicken sandwich war, as described by industry competitors, means diners have plenty of options, such as a Korean-style iteration in Shake Shack, a version of McDonald’s topped with hot pepper sauce and a KFC’s new offering the chain considers “the best chicken sandwich in history” Sandwich madness could also bring lasting changes to the restaurant business, as owners would spend thousands of dollars on new equipment to batter chicken fillets for compete for what some franchisees say is the future of eating out.
Shake Shack began selling its new fried chicken sandwich to South Korean burger chain restaurants during the fall, before debuting in the United States this month. One of the first time-limited items he put on menus during the pandemic was a spicy chicken sandwich, also during the fall.