Wendy’s on Monday revealed an upgraded pair of chicken sandwiches, including its Classic Chicken Sandwich and its Spicy Chicken Sandwich.
The sandwiches feature a new marinade and a panko-style breading. They are served on a slightly sweet potato bun and feature mayo. The breading in the spicy sandwich is infused with nine spices to provide some heat, and it comes with pickles “for extra crunch and balance.”
Their introduction comes at a crucial time for the chain. Initially set for late last year, they are part of what Wendy’s believes to be a set of new products and upgrades that should ultimately lift the company out of its sales slump.
Few major restaurant companies have faced the level of turmoil that Wendy’s has dealt with over the past two years, including reorganizations, the surprise hiring of Kirk Tanner as CEO, a dynamic pricing uproar and Tanner’s surprise departure.
Some key executives have left, the chain has been without a permanent CEO for nine months, and top shareholder Nelson Peltz is talking about buying the chain.
Along the way, the chain closed hundreds of locations in each of the past two years. It allowed some operators to stop serving breakfast. And same-store sales progressively worsened last year, bottoming out with an 11.3% decline in the fourth quarter, the worst performance for the chain outside of the pandemic in at least 20 years.
Wendy’s stock is trading below $7 per share, a level it hasn’t traded at since 2013.
Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich. | Photo courtesy of Wendy's.
At least part of the reason for the company’s weak performance late last year was rooted in a decision to push off the upgraded chicken sandwiches to this year. Ken Cook, the company’s interim CEO, said that the decision was made to “ensure excellent execution.”
As part of its comeback plan, Wendy’s hired the consulting firm run by former Yum Brands CEO Greg Creed to perform a segmentation study, which was completed in December. One of the findings from that study is that consumers visit Wendy’s because it has a higher quality perception, which is one of the reasons the company is working to improve its menu items.
The company developed the new recipe for its chicken sandwiches using what it calls a “comprehensive and consumer-driven development process.” Wendy’s evaluated the cooking techniques and ingredient selection based on customer feedback.
Customers sampled dozens of items in focus groups and then through in-restaurant testing.
Some of these upgrades will make their way to the other parts of the menu. The potato bun alone will be used in several other premium sandwiches, including the chain’s burgers, the Asiago Ranch Chicken Club and the Crispy Panko Fish Sandwich.
Executives are promising more product innovation this year to lure more customers. The company already started that last month with a Chicken Tenders Ranch Wrap. It also launched the new Cheesy Bacon Cheeseburger. It plans more of that this year, with Cook promising “a lot more hamburger innovation.”
“When we look back at 2025, we had zero hamburger innovation,” Cook said. “We didn’t talk about our hamburgers and we didn’t innovate on those.
“That’s changing this year.”
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