Irene Jiang / Business Insider
- Popeyes’ chicken sandwich has exploded onto the fast-food scene, sparking "chicken wars" online and selling out at locations across the US.
- Jose Cil, the CEO of Restaurant Brands International, parent company of Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons, told Business Insider that Popeyes spent more than 12 months creating the chicken sandwich.
- Cil says people want fried chicken more than ever. Chicken tender sales are up at Popeyes, and there’s been increased demand for chicken sandwiches at Burger King.
- "There are long queues in the restaurants, the drive-thrus are being stacked up — there’s a lot of anticipation," Cil said. "We just need to make sure we deliver it well consistently in every restaurant, every day."
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It’s been a busy week for Jose Cil.
The CEO of Restaurant Brands International, parent company of Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons, sat down with Business Insider on Friday on the heels of the wild success of Popeyes’ new chicken sandwich.
Cil said that Popeyes expected that people would love the chicken sandwich when they tried it, so early positive reviews last week did not come as a surprise. However, he admitted that the chicken sandwich battles on Twitter "exceeded our expectations a bit."
"There was a lot of back and forth, the so-called ‘hashtag chicken wars,’" Cil said. "We were right in the middle of it."
Irene Jiang / Business Insider
Wendy’s, Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, and other chains were duking it out online over which brands served the best chicken sandwich. Customers were quick to take sides, with many supporting Popeyes’ sandwich as the new king of chicken. Cil said his favorite response was from a woman who said her body "went limp" after the first bite.
According to Cil, Popeyes has been working on developing the chicken sandwich for more than a year, from the test kitchen, to getting new equipment in stores, to developing a marketing campaign.
In 2019, customers want fried chicken more than ever before. Cil said Popeyes has seen climbing boneless chicken sales as customers clamor for chicken tenders. Chicken sandwich sales have also been rising at sister brand Burger King.
In fast food, a quality burger is no longer enough to compete. In addition to Popeyes, Buffalo Wild Wings and Cracker Barrel have also rolled out new chicken sandwiches in recent months. McDonald’s is planning to launch a spicy BBQ sandwich in mid-September, according to leaked documents shared with Business Insider in June.
Irene Jiang / Business Insider
Still, the hype has its consequences. Popeyes locations across the US have reported shortages as massive crowds of people descend upon the locations.
"There are long queues in the restaurants, the drive-thrus are being stacked up — there’s a lot of anticipation," Cil said. "We just need to make sure we deliver it well consistently in every restaurant, every day."
Cil said that it has been a "tough week" for many workers in stores.
"They’ve worked really hard, and actually the success that we’ve seen with the launch of the chicken sandwich is really a success that’s been driven by our franchise partners as well as our team members and the restaurants," he said.
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See Also:
- McDonald’s is plotting its entry into the spicy chicken sandwich wars
- KFC rolls out a new mac-and-cheese bowl topped with extra cheese and fried chicken as the fast-food mac-and-cheese battle heats up
- We taste-tested hard seltzers from 9 popular brands and ranked them from worst to best
SEE ALSO: Wendy’s jumps into the chicken-sandwich Twitter feud between Popeyes and Chick-fil-A
Source: Business Insider – ktaylor@businessinsider.com (Kate Taylor)