Tag: KFC

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Culture Fast Food Food Fashion

These KFC x Crocs Clogs Will Be Releasing Soon

Earlier this year, we reported on a KFC x Crocs collab which debuted during New York Fashion week and had fans of both up to their ears in excitement for a potential general release. Well friends, I don’t know how much more you can contain that excitement, but just know that it’ll be for only a little while longer.

That’s because the crispy Crocs Classic Clogs have a release date next week on July 28th on Crocs.com for $59.99. This highly anticipated pair also comes with two removable, chicken-scented, drumstick-shaped Jibbitz charms.

What’s better is that this release is hinged to a good cause, with $3 of every purchase going to the KFC Foundation’s REACH Educational Grant Program, which helps employees at participating KFC locations to further their education through college scholarships.

You know what they say when it comes to fashion, a good statement piece is crucial in one’s wardrobe. Pretty sure a pair of Crocs Classic Clogs looking like a delicious bucket of KFC chicken fulfills that notion to the max.

Categories
Fast Food Science What's New

KFC Is First Major Chain To Announce Research Into Lab-Grown Meat

With the search for more sustainable meat options in fast food expanding, KFC has taken a pivotal step in getting major chains to consider lab-grown meat as a potential solution.

KFC’s global team announced in a press release that they were looking into making nuggets that utilize chicken cells as part of the process, making them the first major to chain to publicly announce that cellular agriculture could be an option for them.

These nuggets are being developed in conjunction with 3D Bioprinting Solutions, a Russia-based company known for creating prosthetic organs. The resulting nuggets will use some plant material, but also use cells from chickens to “reproduce the taste and texture of chicken meat almost without involving animals in the process,” according to the release.

KFC will provide spice blends and other ingredient needs to make the nuggets taste like their signature chicken, while 3D Bioprinting will come up with the blend of meat/plant cells needed to get the texture down right.

Lab-grown meat, also known as laboratory-produced, cellular, or cultured meat, has been proposed as an alternative to factory farm-raised meat because it has the potential to scale to global meat consumption levels while reducing environmental costs.

While companies claim that lab-made meat reduces land use, water use, and methane emissions, research has also shown that the technology could increase carbon dioxide emissions. All of this research is still speculative, however, since none of these products have been produced at a commercial scale yet.

Several companies in the United States, including Memphis Meats and JUST, have begun making breakthroughs on lab-grown meatballs, nuggets, and more in recent years. Although there’s still regulatory issues surrounding the technology, the appetite for lab-grown animal products has increased globally, with meat giants like Tyson backing brands working on cellular meat products.

KFC plans to test a prototype of this collaboration in Moscow as early as Fall of 2020.

Categories
Fast Food Plant-Based Sustainability

KFC’s Beyond Fried Chicken Comes To Socal For A Limited Run

After a brief introduction to KFC’s Beyond Fried Chicken last year, the plant-based poultry is getting an expanded test run across Southern California.

Beyond Fried Chicken photos courtesy of KFC. Background by Maxime Lebrun on Unsplash.

Starting July 20th, Beyond Meat’s collab with KFC will be available for a limited time at 59 locations across Southern California. The restaurants are located in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties.

For those unfamiliar, the Beyond Fried Chicken offering consists of nuggets made from a plant-based chicken breast substitute that Beyond Meat has developed. Seasoned like KFC’s fried chicken, it’s sold in a 6-piece or 12-piece order, with combo options available as well. All of these come with your choice of dipping sauce.

The SoCal regional offering marks the third time Beyond Fried Chicken has been made available, suggesting that KFC is looking to ramp this up to a national scale some time in the near future. It first showed up in Atlanta in August 2019, followed by a test offering in February 2020 in Nashville and Charlotte.

Considering its debut in Atlanta drew hour-long lines, there’s definitely a growing appetite for the nuggets that the chain could capitalize on.

Below is a list of all of the locations you can find the plant-based chicken at starting on the 20th:

Categories
Fast Food

KFC’s Permanent Launch Of Secret Recipe Fries Replaces Iconic Potato Wedges

Last year, select Kentucky Fried Chicken locations in California, Indiana, and Detroit began testing the Colonel’s new Secret Recipe Fries. The new side option was named for featuring all of the Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices in its cooking. This week, Secret Recipe Fries gets a permanent spot on KFC’s national menu, but it comes at a somber bit of a cost.

The Colonel is discontinuing its iconic potato wedges, reports Business Insider as the Secret Recipe Fries take their place as a permanent potato proxy for consumers.

I’ve called a few stores to confirm, hoping to God that there were a few wayward wedges left to order before it was too late. Alas, a fruitless wedge-less endeavor.

Look for the Secret Recipe Fries now at KFC locations nationwide.

Categories
Fast Food

KFC Tests New Sandwich In Response To Popeyes, Here’s Where To Find It

When Popeyes launched their premium chicken sandwich, the item became a viral sensation with cars piling up at drive-thrus and customers buying out sandwiches for weeks at a time. Chicken sandwich lovers have wondered since, when and how fried chicken giant Kentucky Fried Chicken would respond to this item.

It looks like fans will have to wonder no longer, as KFC is now testing their own Premium Chicken Sandwich.

At select locations in Florida, KFC is offering a new sandwich item that’s been touted as their best sandwich yet.

The new sandwich boasts a double-breaded extra crispy chicken filet that’s 20 percent bigger than the Original Colonel Chicken Sandwich. In comparison, the premium is laden with crispier and thicker pickles, the Colonel’s real mayo, and served on a brioche bun. You can get the sandwich in both classic or spicy,  depending on your affinity for heat.

Front line workers in Florida will be getting a first taste of this sandwich via delivery in the days to come. Customers who are eager to try this new menu offering can find them at the following locations:

  • 16800 W. New Hwy 441, Mount Dora, FL, 32757
  • 6217 International Rd., Orlando, FL, 32819
  • 502 S Alafaya Trail, Orlando, FL, 32828
  • 5200 S John Young Parkway, Orlando, FL, 32839
  • 4466 Pleasant Hill Road, Poinciana, FL, 34758
  • 3601 S. Orlando Dr.Sanford, FL, 32773
  • 2882 N Hiawassee Rd, Orlando, FL, 32818
  • 1130 W. Osceola Pkwy, Kissimmee, FL, 34741
  • 5780 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando, FL, 32821
  • 11302 S Orange Blossom Trl, Orlando, FL, 32837
  • 510 U.S. Hwy 27, Clermont, FL, 34714
  • 5680 W US Highway 192, Kissimmee, FL, 34746
  • 4250 Aloma Ave., Winter Park, FL, 32792
  • 10825 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL, 32817
  • 3009 W Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL, 32808

While only available in Florida for the time being, we can easily expect to see this item make a national release sometime in the near future.

Categories
Fast Food News Plant-Based Sustainability What's New

KFC Will Be Selling Plant-Based Chicken Nuggets In China Next Week

On Monday, KFC announced that it will be selling vegan chicken nuggets in China from April 28 to April 30, as it continues its expansion into the plant-based market.

The fast food giant said that the nuggets will be sold in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, and will be manufactured by Cargill Ltd. 

This comes after extremely successful plant-based product testing in multiple countries, which showed enough consumer demand to expand the dishes into more locations in the US. Notably, the company is using a different manufacturer for the Chinese launch, as they tapped Beyond Meat in the US and Lightlife in Canada, respectively.

This isn’t the only way in which the brand’s Chinese release differs. Customers will have to purchase a pre-sale voucher for 1.99 yuan that entitles them to five chicken pieces, according to the company’s official Weibo account. 

This is an interesting path to take, as KFC surely looks to avoid the expansive line that occurred during the high profile Atlanta launch of the company’s plant-based fried chicken. It’s reminiscent of the pre-sale lotteries and raffles that many sneaker companies have done to avoid real-life lines and online crashes during hyped shoe releases. 

We’ll surely be keeping our eyes peeled for any visuals of the new nuggets, as well as any potential plant-based nugget voucher resale market, so check back soon.

Categories
Fast Food

KFC Launches Spicy Thai Crunch Fried Chicken In Singapore Restaurants

I’ve always believed that frying chicken was a universal language, and that so many cultures are able to express their abundance of flavors through breading and sauce. That’s why I get so stoked when fast food spots bring those flavors into the mainstream, as a stepping stone to induct tastebuds into these new experiences.

Kentucky Fried Chicken locations in Singapore is now offering a take on Thai flavors with their new Spicy Thai Crunch.

A spicy Thai sauce is dressed over KFC Singapore’s Hot & Crispy chicken, then sprinkled with zesty rice crisps. The rice crisps are coated with a spicy-sour seasoning that’s loaded with the flavors of galangal, lemongrass, garlic, and onion that checks off all the boxes for spicy, savory, sweet and tangy in this new menu offering.

Definitely something I’d love to try if I’m ever in Singapore. Though if I close my eyes and listen carefully, I can probably hear those resounding Singaporean crunches from the other side of the world.

You can find the Spicy Thai Crunch at participating KFC Singapore locations.

Categories
Cravings Fast Food News What's New

KFC’s Wild New Chicken & Donuts Are Now Available Nationwide

This past fall KFC teased a wild new dish that was gloriously unashamed of its own decadence: a chicken & donuts sandwich. Tested only at select locations in Virginia and Pennsylvania at the time, the truly American combo gained enough positive feedback to finally be considered for national release. So come February 24, for a limited time only, KFC will be offering this new chicken & donuts combo at all participating locations.

For those curious about the deets, it’s literally all in the name: Kentucky Fried Chicken & Donuts. Sure it sounds like the most simple sandwich ever, but simple don’t mean stupid in this case. Did Dan Flavin achieve notoriety through complex and busy art? Surely not. A hot, freshly glazed donut sandwiching some juicy fried chicken sounds like a winner in any scenario.

So come this Monday the 24th, you can step out and get you some KFC Fried Chicken & Donuts, a duo that guarantees as much instant gratification as Kobe and Shaq highlights.