Source: KFC.
There's a new way to enjoy KFC's fried chicken, and it's going to be tempting if you like your poultry spicy. KFC parent Yum! Brands introduced Nashville Hot Chicken at all of its domestic restaurants on Monday, following a test last year in the Pittsburgh market that Yum! calls its most successful product test in recent history.
Restaurants specializing in hot chicken -- where the poultry is marinated in pickle brine, pressure fried, and smothered in hot sauce -- are growing in popularity, and KFC wants to be the one to take the tastebud-numbing delicacy nationwide.
KFC's Nashville Hot Chicken is available as a single breast, drumstick paired up with a thigh, or three chicken tenders starting at $5.49. The meal comes with pickle chips, cole slaw, and a biscuit. Larger servings are available, maxing out at a 24-piece "tailgate platter" of chicken tenders at a recommended price of $29.99. That platter may come in handy this winter as folks get together for NFL playoff-viewing parties.
The new offering comes at a time when Yum! Brands itself can use a spark. KFC is starting to bounce back in China -- the chain's largest market in terms of locations -- following a scare tied to a supplier that was accused of improper food handling practices. The rebound in China and robust growth in several international markets helped push comps at KFC 3% higher on a currency-adjusted basis in Yum! Brands' latest quarter, but things aren't going as well closer to home. Domestic KFC's clocked in with a 2% uptick in comps on flat system sales growth for the period.
Fried chicken remains popular, but the same can't be said about the publicly traded companies specializing in quick-service fried chicken. Bojangles went public at $19 just eight months ago. The stock went on to trade as high as $28.45, but Bojangles has gone on to shed nearly half of its value. Bojangles stock is now a broken IPO in the mid-teens. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen has done a better job of holding on to its gains. Popeyes announced preliminary financial results last week, highlighted by a nearly 6% uptick in comps for all of 2015.
Spicy chicken is a popular item at Bojangles and Popeyes, and it will be interesting to see if KFC's Nashville Hot Chicken either eats into sales of its smaller rivals or helps stir up a broader appetite for spicy fried chicken that improves the prospects of all of the players.
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The article KFC's Nashville Hot Chicken Hopes to Heat Up Yum! Brands' Stock originally appeared on Fool.com.
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