McDonald's, Popeyes, Chick-Fil-A And The Chicken Sandwich Wars

It's two pieces of bread, a piece of fried

chick

en, pickles and a splash of mayonnaise. Who would have thought that such a humble

sandwich

could spark a fast food war? In fast food, Chick-Fil-A has long dominated the

chick

en

sandwich

. This simple sandwich is part of what propelled Chick-Fil-A to become the third largest fast food chain in the US, despite being closed on Sundays. Chick-Fil-A's race to the top has spooked even McDonald's, whose American franchisees asked the company to develop a worthy competitor to the Chick-Fil-A sandwich. In the summer of 2019, a formidable opponent emerged for Chick-Fil-A, and it wasn't McDonald's.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen introduced its crispy

chicken

sandwich and conflict began to brew. The sandwich challenged Chick-Fil-A's dominance in the

chicken

sandwich category and the biggest names in fast food entered the battle. Popeyes sold out of the chicken sandwich in about two weeks. During that time, analysts say other chicken chains, including Chick-Fil-A, lost customers to Popeyes. Americans now order and eat more chicken than ever. In a highly competitive industry like fast food, brands are quick to claim their rights. Chains that have long relied on chicken, like Chick-Fil-A and Popeyes, are well positioned to win. Others, like McDonald's, which focuses on burgers, have missed out on money spent by chicken-hungry fans.

One thing is clear: Fast food customers want chicken sandwiches and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. Now big chains are scrambling to deliver, despite supply chain problems and fierce competition. Part of Chick-Fil-A's brand message has been that it didn't invent chicken, just the chicken sandwich, but American studies professor Psyche Williams-Forson says people have been eating this type of sandwich for as long as they've been eating bread. . and poultry. There is evidence that many early colonial households that could afford the ingredients to make bread and had any type of bird, ate bread and bird together.

How did they do that? You know, you don't necessarily know. And of course, over the centuries, we ended up with what we know as the sandwich and, furthermore, the chicken sandwich. And chicken sandwich competition isn't exactly new, either. Ebony magazine searched black newspaper archives and found ads for the chicken sandwich, dating back to 1936. Chick-Fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy invented the chain's original chicken sandwich in 1964. That Sandwich was made of boneless chicken breast. , breaded and fried in peanut oil, and served on a toasted bun with butter and pickles. The first Chick-Fil-A opened in 1967 and the chain has been closed on Sundays ever since.

Despite that, Chick-Fil-A is the third-largest U.S. restaurant chain by systemwide sales and reported more than $10 billion in revenue in 2018. By comparison, Popeye's earned $3.7 billion in sales in 2018, making it the 25th largest chain. American chain. When Popeye's parent company, Restaurant Brands International, quietly discussed a new menu item at its May 2019 Investor Day, it didn't know the product launch would cause such a frenzy. It was the first time in its nearly 50-year history that Popeyes offered a chicken sandwich available nationwide. In the past, their menu tended to focus more on bone-in products. This sandwich is a white meat breast filet, battered and breaded with a layer of buttermilk, served on a brioche bun.

There is a version with normal mayonnaise and another with spicy mayonnaise. Popeyes launched its sandwich on August 12, 2019. A week later, this sandwich sparked a virtual showdown between some of the biggest names in fast food. Chick-Fil-A tweeted an equation suggesting its sandwich was the original and the best. Popeyes had a simple but direct response to Chick-Fil-A. Everyone is fine? Its registration prompted other chicken brands to enter the conversation. Soon, Wendy's and Shake Shack also joined the dispute on Twitter. This is what people love to see. They love to see those kinds of people doing it and in a fun and competitive way, of course.

This is the reality TV series that happens in real time with real companies in real dollars and really delicious food at stake. Those tweets set off a social media storm and nearly doubled Popeyes' Twitter followers from 100,000 to 180,000. One marketing group estimated that Popeyes received more than $65.1 million in equivalent advertising value from media mentions between August 12 and August 27. The sandwich's impact was greater than simply raising Popeyes' profile among consumers. It was also a big help to Popeye's results, thanks in part to the chicken sandwich, sales at stores open more than a year grew 9.7 percent in the third quarter of 2019, compared with growth in the 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018.

He estimated that Popeyes sold about 1,000 chicken sandwiches a day and that the sandwich accounted for about 30 percent of sales while it was available, at least. After about two weeks with the chicken sandwich on the menu, Popeyes across the country began to sell out. He simply ran out of chicken tenders. Fans began posting photos of handwritten sold-out signs on Popeyes doors and drive-thru menus. Popeyes was even sued by an angry customer for selling the sandwich. We saw Popeyes' market share more than double, and then we saw a drop in foot traffic share at Chick-Fil-A, McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's.

You know that infamous "y'all good guys" tweet happened right around the time Wendy's was launching its spicy chicken sandwich and right around the time Burger King was rolling out the Impossible Whopper nationwide. So it kind of took the steam out of those promotions for a few days. But Popeye Sandwich's positive impact wasn't limited to just that chain. The third quarter is the most important part of the year for fast food companies because it includes the summer months, a crucial sales season. It has been a very successful third quarter for fast food in general. I think it was probably the fastest sales growth in several years.

And the chicken sandwich has some responsibility for the growth of that sector. The excitement over Popeyes' national launch of its chicken sandwich actually benefited its competitors. Chicken-focused fast food restaurants, such as KFC and Chick-Fil-A, saw a spike in traffic in late August 2019. During a typical summer weekend, Popeyes, Chick-Fil-A, Zaxby's and KFC would receive around 8.3 million visitors, based on foot traffic. Pacer.ai analytics platform. But at the height of the Chicken Sandwich War, the chains had 10.1 million visitors over one weekend. And now Popeyes has its sandwich back. Its nationwide release on November 3, 2019 saw huge crowds. Traffic at Popeyes that day was up nearly 300 percent more than normal.

One analyst estimated that busy Popeyes locations sold up to 1,500 chicken sandwiches per store every day during the first 10 days the sandwich was back, effectively doubling sales volume at those stores. And Popeyes' competitors are racing to keep up. In July 2019, McDonald's franchisees in the US asked the company to add a Southern-style chicken sandwich to compete with Chick-Fil-A's. Franchisees said McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches were not enough to compete in the premium chicken sandwich category. In an earnings conference call, McDonald's said it had lost some business in the chicken sector. In December 2019, McDonald's began testing a crispy chicken sandwich, officially entering the chicken sandwich

wars

.

Well, they said on their conference call that they actually lost share in the chicken segment, but they gained share in the burger segment. Clearly, this is a problem for them that they are trying to correct. Franchisees have been asking for a premium chicken sandwich for some time. You know, the sandwich isn't likely to be breaded and hand-battered like at Popeyes. So McDonald's will have to find a way to take advantage of its main advantages, which are speed, convenience and value. The war is far from over. And if I had to make a longer-term prediction, I wouldn't predict that Chick-Fil-A would be a loser in that chicken war overall.

There's so much momentum behind the growth of that company and so much brand equity that it just resonates with consumers young, old and everywhere in so many ways. For decades, hamburgers have been Americans' favorite sandwich on fast food menus. Now chicken sandwiches are stealing some of the limelight. Chicken sandwiches are still number two, but they are gaining traction among consumers faster than burgers. According to market research firm NPD Group, during the year ending February 2019, four billion servings of chicken sandwiches were ordered in restaurants in the United States. During the same period, burgers were more popular with 8.6 billion orders, but orders for chicken sandwiches increased four percent, while orders for burgers remained stable.

On average, diners still buy hamburgers more often than chicken sandwiches. But burger makers should not rest assured. In general, chicken consumption is increasing. From 1960 to 2018, per capita chicken consumption increased 235 percent to 93.8 pounds per year. During the same period, per capita beef consumption fell 9.6 percent. 1991 was the last year people ate more beef than chicken. In 2018, Americans ate about 94 pounds of chicken compared to 57 pounds of beef. That's a pretty dramatic difference, you know, and it's a change from 40 or 50 years ago. This was not always the case. And it demonstrates what technological progress and changes in consumer habits, that combination of factors, can do to change our diets.

Analysts point to three main factors that have contributed to increased chicken consumption: health problems, technological advances and a growing population. The National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization have linked red meat consumption to heart disease and cancer. Some have pointed to white meats such as chicken and fish as a healthier alternative. Technological advances have also made it possible to produce larger chickens more quickly, and the price of chicken has fallen in recent years. If you look at what's happened to the price of chicken relative to, say, beef, it's fallen about 45 percent in the last 20 years.

So today chicken costs about a third of the retail price of beef. Something similar has happened with pork. So today chicken costs about half as much as pork. But in the chicken sandwich

wars

, not all chicken is created equal. Some pieces are better for sandwiches than others. Most fast food chains rely on breast meat for their sandwiches, which is typically more expensive than chicken wings or thighs. Fast food restaurants have offered chicken products for years, but analysts say this social media dispute has attracted a new generation of consumers. Certainly, the generation that follows social media could go to a fast-casual restaurant.

You know, maybe your Chipotle consumer or your Shake Shack consumer doesn't really consider traditional fast food to be a high-end, high-quality experience and so by having a product that's that, you know, that. that rivals the Chicken Shack will bring in a generation that has probably never eaten a Big Mac before. Burger orders may remain stable. But despite attracting a new audience, analysts don't think chicken sandwiches will overtake burgers anytime soon.