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September 30, 2026 \u2014 3:56pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n KFC is defending its territory as the top fried-chicken player by overhauling menu classics and chasing sales \u201csugar highs\u201d as it seeks to halve the time it takes to bring globally trending flavours to Australia.<\/p>\n This week the Dirty Bird relaunched chicken tenders that claim to be crispier and 30 per cent bigger than its previous version, after emerging fast-food and fried-chicken competitors led to a rise in KFC customer complaints and a drop-off in sales of the boneless serving.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have the best tenders in the market,\u201d said Vanessa Rowed, chief marketing officer at Yum! Brands, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut in Australia. \u201cWe have the best chicken but we\u2019re not necessarily clear with the customer because it was too small or it was a bit feeling a bit dry.\u201d<\/p>\n KFC\u2019s relaunch of chicken tenders is the first step in a broader overhaul of its core menu that could include revamping its bestselling Original Recipe, developed by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940. El Jannah, Guzman y Gomez, Wingstop and a growing number of independent rivals are threatening KFC\u2019s customer base and market share with their own fried and boneless chicken offerings.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was always about size,\u201d said Rowed. \u201cWe\u2019re going to set the benchmark here [starting with tenders] and then we\u2019re going to do that with every single product in our portfolio.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not redoing the Original just yet but I\u2019m not saying no.\u201d<\/p>\n But the bigger, juicier tenders come at a slightly higher price: a three-pack bundle, which sold for $9.45, is now $10.95. A five-pack, previously $12.95, is now $14.95.<\/p>\n KFC Australia has been driving more customers into stores by quickly jumping on globally trending flavours and shortening the amount of time it takes to roll out new products. New menu items, which previously were introduced about every six weeks, are now being rolled out every four weeks.<\/p>\n Typically, it can take nine to 12 months of development before new items land on menus. KFC\u2019s \u201cPicklecore\u201d range, which first launched in Canada and then the UK, was delivered to Australians in four months, despite customer research and testing indicating the flavour trend had yet to take hold with local consumers.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cWe just took a punt,\u201d said Rowed. \u201cSometimes you\u2019ve got to go on gut instinct \u2026 What you don\u2019t want to be is at the end of a trend.\u201c<\/p>\n The first week of Picklecore\u2019s launch delivered the best sales week ever for some stores, Rowed said, but by week two, that sales bump, or \u201csugar high\u201d, began tapering.<\/p>\n \u201cFood is very much like fast fashion,\u201d said Rowed. \u201cThe news hits within week one, and by week four it\u2019s old news and the customer wants something completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n Social media has drastically shortened customer expectations and demands to try new products, with beverages becoming another key frontier fast-food giants are capitalising on<\/a>. KFC and McDonald\u2019s have separately released their own ranges of brightly coloured beverage offerings with toppings like popping pearls or cold foam that pick up traction on social media, to lure customers into stores. They command a higher margin at little additional cost.<\/p>\n Sauces and condiments is another. KFC\u2019s chicken tenders launched alongside a range of 11 sauces, including Korean BBQ, Hot Honey, Smokey Maple and \u201cLiquid Gold\u201d, which generated a spike in Google searches when it launched in mid-March.<\/p>\n KFC\u2019s strategy of innovating both old and new menu items has been driven by executives at the top. In the US, sales went backwards by 4.6 per cent in 2025, following a 5.2 per cent decline the year before. By sales, KFC has slipped to fourth place, with competitors Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane capturing customers.<\/p>\n KFC global chief executive Scott Mezvinsky conceded it had not kept up with customer tastes in the US. \u201cThe consumer obviously moved, gravitated towards boneless in a bigger way before we did. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to play catch-up now,\u201d he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n In Australia, which is one of KFC\u2019s top most-innovative markets, this has translated into more freedom to experiment and a greater willingness to be more adventurous.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a different attitude coming through from the team to take a little bit more risk and to do some stuff that probably we wouldn\u2019t have done before,\u201d said Rowed.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t reinvent ourselves, we will die. That\u2019s the reality of brands like KFC.\u201d<\/p>\n The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Old](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c7742daf8f29572db706b3c477321b3f73400db5.jpeg\")
Old and new: KFC has relaunched chicken tenders that are 30 per cent bigger to keep up with competition.Louie Douvis<\/p>\n![\"KFC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/020dd410c7c23c51247815ee1ceb4a7993866ed5.jpeg\")
KFC South Pacific chief marketing officer Vanessa Rowed.Louie Douvis<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/17574217566ac816d16b110cfe6d5d3112c74c54.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Jessica](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790767339_445_1d6419be13aa9280d0a4132d991ec3d3adfaaaf85e9396b2f7a52ebb2dd15b00.png\")
Jessica Yun<\/a> is a business reporter covering retail and food for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 30, 2026 \u2014 3:56pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":910932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-910931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}