The Associated Press reported on April 5, 2013 that they are in the process of creating a more convenient way to eat chicken by removing the bones from their breast, thigh and drumsticks chicken pieces.
KFC (formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken) owned by Yum! Brands Inc., which also owns Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
Yum! Brands has had some performance issues in the U.S. which has dropped their sales in the recent months; however, they have enjoyed a growth over the last several years in China.
Yum! Brands is the largest Western fast food operator in the country with over 5,300 locations of which most of them are KFC restaurants.
A couple months ago Yum! Brands experienced a scare over their chicken supply which hurt their China sales.
Since that time, they have been working overtime to revamp their menu to get consumers to trust them again.
KFC will be introducing deep fried boneless pieces of chicken on April 14 as an alternative to chicken breast, thigh and drumsticks.
The initiative for the chicken pieces comes from the growing popularity of the convenience of eating nuggets and strips, which are easy to eat on the go.
KFC says that four out of five chicken sold in the U.S. are boneless. The chain said based on the trends bones could eventually disappear from their menu.
The fast food chain already started putting more boneless items on their menu with smaller chicken “Bites” which they rolled out last year, as well as “Dip’ems”, which are chicken strips with a variety of sauces.
They also offer chicken fillet without the bun; however, that will discontinue, and the new boneless pieces will be in a sandwich.
KFC spokesman Rick Maynard said, “people in their 20’s and 30’s do not tend to be fans of bones because they’ve grown up with nuggets”.
The new boneless chicken will only be offered at all of their 18,000 plus locations but only 4,500 of its U.S. location.
The new chicken offered in white and dark meat are whole muscle pieces filleted off the bone and are twice the size of their chicken strips.
Customers will be able to purchase them in meal deals, which include two pieces of boneless chicken, a side biscuit and drink for $4.99.
KFC will also offer the chicken pieces in buckets, which include four pieces of boneless chicken and six pieces of breast, thigh and drumsticks for $14.99.
A piece of the boneless chicken has 200 calories and 8 grams of fat. The dark meat piece has 50 calories more.
KFC says it took them over two years to develop their version of boneless chicken, which performed well in test markets in Oklahoma City and Omaha last year.
KFC is on a revolutionizing how we people eat chicken to compete with McDonald's McWrap and McBites.
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