Third-party delivery, menu enhancements and more are part of branded chicken provider Krispy Krunchy Chicken’s new growth strategy.
And Krispy Krunchy Chicken most definitely is growing. Last year, for example, it celebrated a record-breaking year by opening nearly 500 new units and implementing strategic tactics including a simplified menu, supply chain optimizations and the launch of its Cajun Chicken Sandwich (pictured). The company also added a new corporate office in Atlanta.
This year, Alexandria, Louisiana-based Krispy Krunchy Chicken plans to open more than 700 stores, with a year-end goal of 3,500-plus locations. Jim Norberg (pictured), named CEO in February, earlier this month revealed the company’s Core Four plan, which will serve as its growth roadmap.
This strategy focuses on:
- Adding net new stores
- Enhancing same-store sales growth
- Optimizing its system
- Operator profitability
Adding new stores includes tapping into new markets, a strategy that will include typical c-store locations, but also will look at casinos, colleges and retail stores like Walmart, Norberg told CSP in an interview April 25.
To grow same-store sales, Norberg said, Krispy Krunchy Chicken is bolstering third-party delivery via DoorDash, UberEats and Grubhub. It hopes to get more than half its stores using third-party delivery by the end of the summer and the majority offering it by next year, he said.
“This will be a big year for us to launch third-party delivery,” he said. “There’s this whole universe of delivery that we just haven't been in in a big way.”
Before this third-party-delivery push, about 200 of the 3,000 Krispy Krunchy Chicken locations offered the service.
“They really have been the pioneers,” Norberg said. “These are these are operators who said, ‘Hey, there’s delivery all around. I’m going to do it.’ But they were on their own to work with a DoorDash or UberEats, paying incredible commissions.”
“We took things off [the menu] that were hard for the operators to operate and what customers were not buying.”
Now, however, corporate is developing third-party-delivery relationships, including integrating all third-party-delivery companies onto one computer tablet in a location to make it easier to view and fill orders. Making deals companywide will result in commissions to third-party companies dropping about 5 percentage points, Norberg said.
“We're making it easier, cheaper,” he said, adding that improvements include providing stores better packaging to keep food being delivered hotter and fresher for longer. He said stores are “thrilled.”
A bonus to this system, Norberg added, is that customers ordering Krispy Krunchy Chicken on the app from a c-store also can order their other products, such as a bottle of Coke.
“So, for a c-store operator that has Krispy Krunchy, this is an added benefit,” he said. “They have the ability to sell that customer merchandise within the store that they didn’t have before. It really is a win for the for the operators.”
L-T-Oh!
Krispy Krunchy Chicken this year also is upping its limited-time-offer (LTO) game; one method is by partnering with sauce brands. “We’re working with Kraft Heinz now and some others so LTOs will absolutely be a part of our future,” Norberg said.
The company also is working on simplifying its menu, a “big priority” that he said began last year.
“We took things off that were hard for the operators to operate and what customers were not buying,” he said. “We simplified the menu, and we simplified it to where we are now moving into optimizing the menu.”
“This will be a big year for us to launch third-party delivery.”
Krispy Krunchy Chicken is currently testing several products with similar SKUs, as well as testing breakfast and other dayparts. They’ve also dropped items, including whitefish, and re-evaluated regional items.
“The idea was to simplify and get a core menu across the country, and then add back in regional items where it makes sense,” Norberg said. “I live in Atlanta now, and I will tell you fried okra is very big, and we’re going to sell what a customer wants to buy.
“Part of this is just figuring out what that is,” he continued. “So, we’re doing a lot of turf studies, region frequency, understanding what is it that customers want, and that will be part of that next evolution.”
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