KFC Considers Plant-based Fried Chicken

Meatless is the “in” thing right now and more fast food restaurants are trying to stay a part of the trend.

According to a KFC executive, the fried chicken chain is considering plant-based fried chicken but has no plans to test right now.

The company’s U.S. president, Kevin Hochman, said that the company is in an “exploration phase right now” but has no plans to test a plant-based meat alternative yet.

This may be trick seeing how Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, the leading producers of plant-based meat alternatives, do not currently have chicken substitutes.

McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A have also been considering vegan entrees for their menus. Burger King and Del Taco have already started using plant-based beef and sausage products.

“For us, it’s really about understanding how does it evolve? Is chicken as popular as it seems beef will be? Is it something that would actually delight our customers or not?” Hochman explained in an interview.

The company’s $5 Fill Up Meal which was launched in 2014, has helped the chain see sales growth these last few years.
“To this day, it is a huge part of our business and why our core customer comes back,” Hochman remarked.

“There are some people today who don’t eat chicken, but if we had an alternative protein product would they come into a KFC? That’s really the $64,000 question,” Hochman said.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of these companies and have not been compensated for this article.