The hottest item in the burger business is chicken.
At least 10 major US fast food chains have introduced fried chicken sandwiches in the last three months or will be soon. Many of those who sell the new poultry items are better known as hamburger chains, including McDonald’s Corp., Shake Shack Inc. and Jack in the Box Inc.
Restaurant operators, who are facing slowdowns and restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, aim to capture consumers’ enthusiasm for crispy chicken sandwiches. This fervor contributed to the construction of Chick-fil-A Inc. in one of the most important fast food chains in the country in the last decade and made Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. to provide a social media sensation after the start of 2019.
The chicken sandwich war, as described by industry competitors, means tables have plenty of options – such as a Korean-style iteration at Shake Shack, a McDonald’s version topped with hot pepper sauce and a new KFC offering on which the chain considers “the best chicken sandwich in the world. “The craze for sandwiches could also bring lasting changes to the restaurant business, with owners spending thousands of dollars on new equipment to beat chicken fillets to compete for what some franchisees say is the future of outdoor dining.
Shake Shack began selling its new fried chicken sandwich in South Korean burger chain restaurants in the fall, before debuting in the US this month. One of the first time-limited items he put on the menus during the pandemic was a spicy chicken sandwich, also in the fall.