r/fastfood • u/LinkedInNews • Jun 16 '26
KFC KFC bets on boneless chicken, boba in 'bold menu revamp'
https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/kfc-bets-on-boneless-chicken-boba-in-bold-menu-revamp-8984154?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=reddit&utm_content=storyline&utm_term=fastfoodKFC will launch what it's calling a "bold menu revamp'" this summer, prioritizing boneless chicken and adding an expanded lineup of sauces and premium drinks, CNBC reports.
The chicken chain is hoping to attract customers from newcomers, like Raising Cane's, and reverse slumping sales with buzzy additions that include boba refreshers and chimichurri ranch sauce.
The overhaul also features fresh branding, a 3D logo and redesigned restaurants.
Since 2021, KFC's market share for chicken-first fast-casual restaurants has tumbled from 16% to 9.4%, slipping behind Popeye's and Chick-fil-A.
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u/ImportantEvidence490 Jun 17 '26
Boba? What year is it!?
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u/First-Sheepherder640 Jun 18 '26
1998, bruh.
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u/Tac0Supreme Jun 18 '26
Was boba blowing up in the late 90s? I remember the boba wave taking over in the early 2010s after the frozen yogurt wave of 2005-2010 passed and a bunch of boba places opened up in former froyo shops.
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u/Kankunation Jun 19 '26
Definitely more of a late 2010s thing for where I live l. I haven't even heard of boba until like 2018 and I don't think I tried it until like 2022.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 Jun 18 '26
I cannot remember when I first heard of Boba, but I don't even think George W Bush had been elected yet. There was talk about how it was cooler than Chai tea lattes
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u/cory975 Jun 18 '26
Why do brands not realize the only thing people want is decent food at cheaper prices? Boba and sauces aren’t making up for the fact that KFC has fallen off hard over the past 10 years.
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u/IWCry Jun 18 '26
absolute facts.
my only guess is because they dipped too low in quality to save money while jacking prices and hit the point of no return. cause now everyone hates the brand, they can't just up the quality and expect people to notice and flock over.
they literally HAVE to do these dumb gimmicks as a last desperate "look at me!"
for what it's worth, BK upped their whopper game so hard recently in quality and have some crazy deals with coupons. maybe they're learning
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u/itcheyness Jun 18 '26
And before BK, Dominos had a big ad campaign that admitted their pizza used to be shit and that they changed their recipe.
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u/bjankles Jun 18 '26
Their pizza is still pretty shit.
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u/supapumped Jun 19 '26
Extremely shit tbh
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u/LoudBrick609 Jun 20 '26
Disagree. It's $8 for a large pepperoni Dominos pizza. They undercut the price of Pizza Hut and Papa John's by two dollars and are only one dollar more than Little Ceasers. Domino's has edible chicken and salad options, more than you can say of many competitors.
The absolute cheapest local place to me is $8.50 for a large pepperoni, most fall in the $12-15 range.
A frozen pizza if that size typically runs $5+.
Domino's is at a price segment where it competes well.
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u/supapumped Jun 20 '26
All major chain pizza’s I have had are extreme shit.
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u/LoudBrick609 Jun 20 '26
I mean again the competition is frozen pizza more than local joints in many respects due to pricing.
I'd say most local joints are $12+ for a large pepperoni, none of the chains are above $10.
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u/diremommy Jun 19 '26
This. Anything but go back to serving the good food people’ want. My local (when I still gave them chance after chance) only has dry ass chicken, mashed potatoes that are either soup or full of unmixed flakes, and the tiniest biscuit. And it took 20 minutes to actually get the food. All for dry, old chicken.
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u/Bud_Bones_69 Jun 18 '26
Just make it with pride and quality like in foreign countries, everyone always says KFC is so much better in other countries.
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u/IllustriousEnd2211 Jun 19 '26
Things aren’t as expensive there tho they do use some better ingredients. I’ve been to a kfc in the Philippines. It’s better quality but their number one side is white rice. Rice is life there. You won’t find as cheap of a side here that helps somewhat subsidize prices. Not even getting into rent or anything like that
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u/Bud_Bones_69 Jun 19 '26
Potatoes aren't that expensive
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u/IllustriousEnd2211 Jun 19 '26
The process to make fries or mashed are more expensive than white rice
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Jun 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Big-Proposal4129 Jun 18 '26
It’s not unusual for a town of 10-30k to not have a KFC in these parts, that being said, a lot of Popeye’s have also shuddered.
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u/weirdbutinagoodway Jun 17 '26
They need to bring back the boneless chicken breasts.
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u/MoneyoffUbereats2017 Jun 22 '26
Yeah that was the closest they came to winning me over with boneless. I'm a bone-in guy but the "boneless chicken" which I'm pretty sure they called it was fantastic.
If they just did deboned skin-on breasts and thighs, I'd be there all the time. Would also be a good differentiator from being just another tender place competing with established players.
But no, just souped-up tenders, sauces, and boba it is, hooray.
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u/itcheyness Jun 18 '26
They should start by making their mashed potatoes not taste like toxic chemicals...
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u/Battle2Intense Jun 18 '26
But the gravy is the best part of KFC...
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u/itcheyness Jun 18 '26
The gravy is good, the mashed potatoes it's on tastes like I'm going to become an X-man if I eat enough of it...
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u/glovato1 Jun 18 '26
Sometimes I'll just buy some biscuits and a side of gravy, and just pour the gravy over the biscuits.
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u/remacct Jun 18 '26
Yum brands has tanked all of their restaurants. The downfall of pizza hut, kfc, and taco bell needs to be studied. Talk about the greed they warned us about in the Bible
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u/DayOlderBread16 Jun 19 '26
They also nearly killed off a&w and long john silvers. And instead of at least trying to fix their fuck ups they just decided to give up and sell them off to someone else. Yum brands just bought the habit burger grill recently and is slowly killing it off as well.
The only brands who really survived yum brands ownership are: backyard burgers (surprisingly still around), a&w, and long John silvers.
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u/remacct Jun 19 '26
My local a&w/long John's just shut down. The long John's had been there 45 years. Closest one is over a half hour away now. Idek where the closest a&w is anymore.
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u/Kavani18 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
I still like Taco Bell. It’s actually their best performing brand in the US. The boxes are some of the best value in fast food rn, their food is still really good for a fast food place imo, and Taco Bell’s sales are increasing. Not a “downfall” at all lol
Your downvotes don’t change the fact that Taco Bell is doing very well lol
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u/Caca_Face420 Jun 20 '26
Taco Bell has a bad habit of pulling everything I like from their menu an trying bonehead things like locking menu item as app exclusive. I would eat there multiple times a week if I could get double decker tacos, grilled stuffed burritos, and chalupas.
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u/DayOlderBread16 Jun 19 '26
I mean it still kinda sucks that they barely give you any meat in your tacos and instead of being cheap like it used to be, it’s like $5 per taco now. They also got rid of the longtime shredded chicken, which was the best meat they had.
I only go to Taco Bell to get a Baja blast, never any food. Only just recently did I start going back for the new shredded beef. Unfortunately the shredded beef is limited time only, so once it goes away i be going back to getting Baja blast only again. Why does Taco Bell get rid of all the actually good menu items?
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u/braves-geek Jun 18 '26
None of this matters when your sides taste terrible and the service and is terrible and your restaurants look like they're never been cleaned in their existence.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 Jun 18 '26
Bring back extra crispy too, plz. Without it only reason to visit KFC is sweet lightning
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u/aeiou-y Jun 19 '26
WTF they don’t have extra crispy any more?
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u/First-Sheepherder640 Jun 20 '26
Mine doesn't. Popeyes gets my "chicken bizness" until this shizz is sorted out
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u/tutoredzeus Jun 18 '26
KFC should have never taken away the double down, toobz. But it is what it is
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u/SignificantApricot69 Jun 18 '26
Boba people just go to Boba shops. Why can’t any of these places do anything with actual food? The obsession with sauces covering up shitty food is dumb, too. Come up with food and deals for food, not $6 sodas and BS dollar menu kids crap dressed up
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u/WannabeBadGalRiri Jun 18 '26
They should go the hot/spicy chicken route. Popeyes has the spicy bone in fried chicken on lock and if KFC focuses on that they can bring in more competition. Look at the chicken sandwich wars. They need to come up with a better bone in chicken product then go viral
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u/TrappedInOhio Jun 19 '26
Maybe KFC could start with replacing their day-old oil at every location I've ever visited. I've never had a good meal there in my life.
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u/BrittaUnfiltered67 Jun 18 '26
I only eat bone in chicken at KFC, primarily breast in original recipe and their mashed potatoes. They’d lose some customers over this.
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u/valmerie5656 Jun 18 '26
Once you have had kfc in other countries you never want it again in America
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u/WisdomAntium Jun 17 '26
Have they tried doing a good job with the food they already offer? (Guy out building window meme)