雅虎香港財經 Beyond Meat founder on KFC launch: We worked very hard on the texture
Beyond Meat's founder Ethan Brown says his R&D team worked double-time to get the texture of KFC's iconic chicken spot on.
"It has been a fun process. We have been trying to get to the North Star. Everyone loves the taste of Kentucky Fried Chicken. We wanted to deliver on that, but change the substrate — the meat component of it. For us, it was a focus on texture. So that is the North Star of Kentucky Fried Chicken's delicious tasting products. I think we are getting closer and closer," Brown said on Yahoo Finance Live.
The efforts will be graded starting on Monday.
KFC — part of the Yum! Brands portfolio with Taco Bell and Pizza Hut — began the nationwide debut of Beyond Fried Chicken after a two-year testing period. Customers can order the item as KFC’s first ever plant-based combo meal or à la carte in six or 12-piece orders.
KFC first tested its Beyond Meat plant-based chicken in August 2019 with a limited-run test in Atlanta. The item sold out in under five hours.
Fast forward one year later, KFC and Beyond Meat launched expanded tests in Nashville, Charlotte and Southern California.
"We think we are going to attract customers that have now come to KFC, as well as getting our existing customers to come more frequently because they have folks in their households wanting to eat more plant-based products," KFC U.S. president Kevin Hochman said on Yahoo Finance Live.
If the product is a hit, the Street thinks it could go a long way to boosting Beyond's sales and helping to improve a stock that has dropped 40% in the past year.
"We believe that if this test is successful, KFC could make it a more permanent menu item, and eventually it could represent as much as 10% of Beyond Meat's total revenue stream," pointed out BTIG restaurant analyst Peter Saleh in a research note.
Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal contributed to this story.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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