KFC CEO Scott Mezvinsky spoke at the Wall Street Journal’s “Future of Everything” event on Monday, providing a business update since he moved into that position last March, as well as a peek of what we can expect next.
Mezvinsky was named to the role after spending four years with sibling chain Taco Bell, including most recently as president of North America and International. He’s been with parent company Yum Brands for more than 21 years, including several positions with KFC in markets all over the world.
In other words, he has a unique perspective on what works well in different markets and different environments and is able to pull those pages for KFC’s playbook. The timing is ideal to dust off the domestic system’s playbook, as the chain has struggled throughout the past couple of years. In 2025, KFC U.S. sales were down 4.3%, according to Technomic, on top of -5.2% in 2024. Shortly after Mezvinsky was named CEO, he brought on Catherine Tan-Gillespie as president of the domestic system to turn those recent trends around.
In July, KFC U.S. launched an aggressive “Kentucky Fried Comeback” campaign, acknowledging its recent market share losses, refocusing on the irreverent Colonel Sanders for its marketing spots, stepping up its innovation with bowls, wraps, beverages and sauces, and injecting itself more into the intense value conversation with offerings like Box Feasts and $10 Tuesdays.
“Catherine has rebuilt her team and is really starting to make sure that we're more relevant with our consumers in the U.S. across different formats. How we modernize the assets, the product, the price and the promotion?” Mezvinsky said.
Following parent company Yum Brands’ Q1 earnings call in late April, Tan-Gillespie shared on LinkedIn that the U.S. system had posted its third same-store sales increase in a row. The exact number is not known, however, and Yum has stopped breaking out KFC's domestic same-store sales.
Mezvinsky said KFC has a major opportunity to “connect with culture and be relevant for consumers,” as Taco Bell has done dexterously throughout the past several years. He also acknowledged that KFC had done a better job modernizing the brand outside of the U.S. The comeback plan strives to address this disconnect.
“The consumer obviously gravitated towards boneless in a bigger way before we did so we're trying to play catch-up now,” he said. “But we feel we have the right brand. The brand is still very powerful in the U.S.”
He points to a post on X last year in which KFC brought back potato wedges due to significant consumer demand. The post showed a photo of single potato wedge with a caption that simply said, “Here, damn.” It generated nearly 81 million views and 15,000 comments, which was the second-highest-engaging post that week behind Taylor Swift’s new album announcement.
“We’re in good company, and I think that shows the power of the brand, and we connect with and listen to our consumers,” Mezvinsky said.
On the innovation side, he said the chain is leveraging trends from its Saucy by KFC concept, first introduced in late 2024. Saucy is focused almost entirely on chicken tenders and a variety of sauces to appeal to younger consumers.
“Saucy is … our way of saying, ‘How do we go all the way forward? What are the most relevant products? How do we really push and challenge ourselves? If we were to start KFC from scratch, what would it look like today? It's sauce forward. It's different colors. It’s still ‘Finger Lickin’ Good.’ The concept now skews towards Gen Z in a much bigger way than our existing brand. So those are things that you're going to start seeing,” Mezvinsky said.
Saucy won’t expand globally like KFC has done, but we can expect to see hints of its influence permeate throughout the system, like bigger tenders and more sauces.
“The concept is showing us what's possible and how we can really lean in,” Mezvinsky said. “You’re going to see more sauces in the U.S. Sauces are a big deal. (Younger consumers) want not just the protein, but they want to have fun with it and dip it and dunk it and drip it. There's lots of areas you can play with sauces. That gets me excited because it's easy operationally.”
While he was presenting on stage Monday, KFC announced the rollout of two new sauces, Honey Chili Crisp and Jalapeño Ranch.
Mezvinsky believes with this work on branding, consumer connection and innovation, KFC will once again find its place atop the chicken category, despite the remarkable growth of competitors that have jumped in recently.
“There's a reason why we're still here as a brand and strong 75 years later, and it's because one person had a vision for what his recipe could do. He didn't have any money, but he had a recipe, and this recipe continues to be sold all over the world and is perfect,” he said. “It’s a part of culture. It’s a part of Americana.”
That recipe has since expanded to more than 30,000 restaurants in 150 countries and territories around the world. The chain opened nearly 2,000 net new restaurants last year and nearly 10,000 restaurants around the world in the last five years. Mezvinsky said with a system that big, it’s important to have a clear plan.
“If you inspire people around a vision and focus them on the strategy, they will move mountains for you, because everyone likes to be part of a winning brand and a winning concept,” he said. “One of the things I'm trying to do as CEO of KFC is provide a clarity on vision and strategy for the world and making sure that our franchisees are inspired. For us, it’s how do we dominate in chicken? How do we modernize our brand, and then how do we accelerate our growth?”
Contact Alicia Kelso at Alicia.Kelso@informa.com
Follow her on TikTok: @aliciakelso
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.