Dive Brief:
- KFC is expanding its tenders- and drink-focused Saucy concept to three new locations roughly a year after opening its first unit, according to an emailed press release.
- Between early December and mid-January, the brand will open these stores in the Orlando area.
- The company planned to begin expanding Saucy throughout the Southeast and anticipated having roughly 10 Saucy units in Florida in the near future, Yum Brands CEO Chris Turner said on the company’s Q3 earnings call.
Dive Insight:
The expansion will be accompanied by new limited-time offers, including menu items beyond the normal remit of a KFC like a Brussels sprouts-based side, a chicken caesar salad and a chicken teriyaki bowl, according to the press release.
The menu items are built to mix and match with different sauces — Saucy serves 11 — to offer customization, the brand said. This menu flexibility and a steady cadence of LTOs should help KFC test new menu items and ideas at Saucy for potential expansion across the main brand’s system.
McDonald’s used a similar strategy at its now-defunct CosMc’s concept, which helped the chain develop a lineup of premium beverages now in testing at about 500 locations. Yum’s most dynamic brand in the U.S., Taco Bell, is expanding its Live Más Café concept in a select number of locations in specific markets — California and Texas at present — while testing operational and menu tweaks. Taco Bell Cantina has also filled an analogous role for the brand in the past, serving at the proving ground for premium proteins like the Cantina Chicken menu, now a mainstay of the brand’s menu.
If Saucy does produce menu items that KFC can adapt for national rollout across its system, it would be a significant contribution to the chain’s ongoing turnaround. On Yum’s Q2 earnings call in August, then-CEO David Gibbs hinted that the company sees Saucy fulfilling that role.
“We're connecting with a younger demographic as one-third of Saucy consumers are under age 30,” Gibbs said. “We have a lot of learning ahead of us, and we are eager to leverage the invaluable consumer insights relevant for our larger KFC U.S. system.”
According to the press release announcing the expansion, Saucy is designed to align with another trend within the QSR space: combining advanced technology with experiential on-premise features.
Saucy’s locations are “designed with a modern, kinetic look and tech-forward vibe,” and “feature drive-thru lanes, self-serve kiosks and scroll-stopping spaces built for hanging out and showing up.”
