Burger King on Wednesday officially confirmed one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets: It is coming out with a chicken sandwich this year.
The Miami-based chain’s entrance into the chicken sandwich wars is similar to the offerings from more than a dozen restaurant brands that have upgraded their sandwiches over the past two years: It features a potato bun and pickles, along with what Burger King calls a “signature sauce.” There is also a regular and a spicy version.
But it differs in two key elements. The company promises “freshly hand-breaded chicken,” making for a gradual rollout over the course of the year. Burger King is hoping that perception of higher quality will win over customers now flush with chicken sandwich options. “We’ll take the time to get it right and our guests will definitely taste the difference,” Ellie Doty, chief marketing officer for Burger King North America, said in a statement.
Burger King’s offering also competes directly against Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen—the chain’s sister company under Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International.
To be sure, chicken sandwiches have become almost table stakes in the fast-food business at this point. Any burger chain or chicken concept might need an upgraded sandwich to compete for customers that are clearly eating more of them now than ever. In other words, Burger King might need a chicken sandwich to avoid losing customers rather than to generate sales growth.
All of Burger King’s biggest competitors have a new sandwich on its menu, and many of its smaller competitors do, too. McDonald’s is preparing its national chicken sandwich launch next week. Wendy’s has already upgraded its sandwich. (Restaurant Business editors have been reviewing the sandwiches, which you can check out here.)
Chick-fil-A, the chicken sandwich chain, is now the third largest restaurant concept in the U.S. and is showing no signs of slowing down.
The flurry of development follows the successful introduction of Popeyes’ chicken sandwich in 2019—a sandwich that helped that chain generate $1.3 billion in additional system sales over two years.
Burger King’s announcement on Wednesday followed news from its largest franchisee in January that a new sandwich was coming, and comments from Jose Cil, Restaurant Brands International’s CEO, that a sandwich was coming.
Yet the Wednesday announcement did note that the brand started working on the product in 2019, as Popeyes launched its version. The chain has been testing the product over the past year.
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