Posted on 01/05/2022 8:08:26 AM PST by Red Badger
KEY POINTS
KFC restaurants nationwide will add Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken to menus, starting Monday for a limited time.
Fast food companies have recently tested or added plant-based items as more customers look to trim meat consumption.
KFC and Beyond Meat say they are bullish on the product despite the launch coming amid the surge in the Covid omicron variant.
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KFC restaurants nationwide will add Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken to its menus, starting Monday for a limited time.
The launch comes after years of testing from the Yum Brands chain and Beyond Meat to create a meat substitute that mimicked the taste and texture of whole muscle chicken, like chicken breast, rather than the ground-up consistency of nuggets.
The two companies first tested plant-based chicken at an Atlanta restaurant in August 2019 — and sold out their limited supply in less than five hours. KFC then tested the new item in Nashville, Charlotte, N.C., and southern California two years ago.
KFC’s new Beyond Fried Chicken KFC
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The popular fried chicken chain is counting on customers making healthier choices to fulfill typical New Year’s resolutions. “This is really about where the customer is going; they want to eat more plant-based proteins,” said Kevin Hochman, U.S. president of KFC. “It’s January, so it’s a time of New Year’s resolutions and wanting to do something different in your diet.”
More Americans are embracing a so-called flexitarian diet in which consumers cut down on their meat consumption for health and environmental reasons. That has driven the growing popularity of plant-based substitutes.
“From a supply perspective, we feel really good about it, and it’s something we have experience with in initial trials,” said Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown.
Hochman and Brown are so bullish on the product that they’re not deterred by the current nationwide surge in the Covid omicron variant.
The partnership hits at the time of a national labor crunch, with many eateries running short-staffed. To run smoothly even with fewer workers, some chains have been reluctant to add new items or even scaled back their menus. Surges in new Covid-19 cases exacerbate those issues as workers call in sick due to positive tests or exposure to infection.
Nearly a year ago, Beyond Meat announced a formal partnership with Yum to make exclusive plant-based substitutes for Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. Chipotle Mexican Grill rolled out plant-based chorizo Monday at its restaurants nationwide. It also is targeting customers who are trying to eat less meat in 2022.
Ramping up for launches
In preparing for launches to come in the new year, Beyond Meat poached industry veterans from Tyson Foods for its C-suite in December, adding Doug Ramsey as chief operating officer and Bernie Adcock in a new role of chief supply chain officer.
Ramsey spent three decades at Tyson, overseeing its poultry and McDonald’s businesses. Adcock also spent 30 years at Tyson with a focus on operations and supply chain management.
“We’re continuing to grow the operations team; they did a lot of work to help the team get ready in these final days,” Brown said, adding the Yum tie-up has been years in the making. “They’ve helped us prepare for this and we brought in, I think, some of the top executives in the industry.”
Beyond Meat is looking to get its stock back on track. In the last 12 months, shares have lost half their value, dragging the company’s market value down to $3.9 billion. The stock closed Tuesday down 5% at $61.62 and short sellers betting against the stock represent 37.2% of available shares, according to Factset.
On the other hand, shares of Yum have climbed 30% in the last year, bringing its market value to $40.3 billion. Strong demand for KFC’s fried chicken has helped lift the price. The chain’s U.S. same-store sales jumped 13% on a two-year basis during its third quarter.
Synergies with retail
The partnership does provide an opportunity, however, for “Beyond” restaurant sales. The company is hoping to attract more customers to its grocery store products, which sold briskly early in the pandemic, but then saw declines in subsequent quarters.
“It has great synergies with what we are trying to do in retail,” Brown said.
To promote the new menu item, YouTube star Liza Koshy will star in the plant-based chicken’s ad campaign, in the latest partnership between fast food chains and influencers. However, KFC will not be targeting vegans and vegetarians directly with its marketing because the Beyond Fried Chicken is made using the same equipment as KFC’s traditional fried chicken.
Customers can buy KFC’s Beyond Fried Chicken in six- or 12-piece orders, with dipping sauce included. Prices start at $6.99, excluding tax.
“Aren’t chickens themselves mostly “plant-based”?”
Ironically the people eating the chickens these days are mostly GMO.
I actually like the original....unfortunately there’s not one near me within 20 miles or I’d eat it more often.
Same, just from a different chain... tops markets. They are pretty good. A friend goes a couple of towns over and buys precooked chickens thst are huge.. too big really as they are kinda mushy meat, (we grew up raising ourmown, and they were jusy a bit tough, but had fantastic flavor) and they don’t taste as good either, but they are still,very cheap and will,do,will,, a,pinch
Thanks, I’ve seen those before, with different ingredients. Never tried them though, but want to. Might be a good project today
Thanks— got ‘em ,and for us there are 6 more. The “secret”-— heh!
You don't want to know, son.......................
Atlanta - Should tell you all you need to know.................................
We also,make soups when we are almost done with the chicken. They go for a few days longer that way. We boil the bones for flavor too, before adding the broth to the soup, makes great soup.
Seriously, who would eat this fake crap?...................
“Colonel” Sanders should be kicked down to Lieutenant.
Who really knows what the food supply is doing to us these days.
[[A 3 piece combo with soda, fries and a biscuit is $8.19 here in N.Ga]]
That definitely, is more like it- I’ll have to stop in again and see what the price is now. After the sticker shock, I haven’t been back in over a year. I had someone try to pick me up some of,theirmsteak fries which I really,liked, butmthey told,me they don’t sell them anymore? If so, bummer.
Don’t blame him.
He didn’t like what Pepsico did to his ‘recipe’ after he sold the business to them.
If he were still alive, he would be outraged...................
This. They will absolutely attempt to serve this crap instead of real meat or chicken.
Probably going Halal as well and never tell us.
Not that Col. Sanders...Today’s version of the corporate entity still known as “Col. Sanders”. Maybe the old man would demote it himself!
Like ObamaCare and the Vaccines...our Government will Mandate that we eat laboratory produced food.
After all...it’s for the children.
“Plant based meat is a solution looking for a problem.“
Yes.
But it’s a trend that can’t be ignored, like it or not.
It’s driven by the anti meat forces
The chain is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands.
Yum! operates the brands KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, The Habit Burger Grill, and WingStreet worldwide, except in China, where the brands are operated by a separate company, Yum China. Yum! previously also owned Long John Silver’s and A&W Restaurants.
All the plant based meats in my grocery store are full of sodium, which is not healthy at all.
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