The chicken sandwich wars may have started in 2019 but now, four years later, we’re seeing more of these wars now than ever before. Popeyes was the originator of the war with its initial chicken sandwich and the tweet heard round the world at Chick-fil-A. Then came almost every chain in the country adding chicken sandwiches to the menu.
McDonald’s made a big statement with its chicken sandwich, later dubbed the McCrispy while Wingstop, mainly known for its wings, introduced a chicken sandwich available with all its sauces.
While chains may have introduced one chicken sandwich considering consumer demand, this second stage of the war is all about spices and texture.
Increasingly, younger consumers are looking for portable foods and the chicken sandwich fits in perfectly with that narrative. The thing they want more than ever is sauces. We’ve seen several chains roll out new sauces or spicy chicken sandwiches. Chick-fil-A put pimento on its chicken sandwich and KFC introduced a BBQ chicken sandwich.
It seems chains are fighting once again in the Chicken Sandwich Wars 2.0.