KFC is Bringing Back a Menu Item That Sold Out in Five Hours During Its Initial Debut The chicken chain announced a partnership with Beyond Meat to debut Beyond Fried Chicken across the country.
By Emily Rella
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Finger lickin' good just took on a whole new meaning for non-meat eaters.
Famous chicken chain KFC announced that it will be dropping the "C" for some menu offerings by announcing a partnership with Beyond Meat to add plant-based "chicken" to menus across the country.
"Beyond Fried Chicken" will be sold as nuggets in a six or 12-piece order and also offered as a part of a combo meal deal and will stay on menus until supplies last. It will be the chain's first meatless combo meal offering ever.
Though the BFC itself is meatless, its preparation is not 100% vegan or vegetarian in its manner.
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Beyond Meat shares were up 8.6% in premarket trading on Wednesday morning upon the announcement of the new partnership.
"We couldn't be prouder to partner with KFC to offer a best-in-class product that not only delivers the delicious experience consumers expect from this iconic chain, but also provides the added benefits of plant-based meat," Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, said in a statement. "We are truly thrilled to make it available to consumers nationwide."
KFC first trial-ran meatless options in the summer of 2019 in Atlanta when they sold out of the limited supply of the nuggets in five hours, per a report from CNBC. This also put the chain on the map as the first-ever major fast-food chain to test meatless chicken.
The new iteration will be sold in all 3,960 KFC locations in the United States.
"We expect it'll sell out," Kevin Hochman, president of KFC U.S., told Vox. "Based on the speed of that sell-out and customer reaction, that'll determine what our plans will be next. But our intent isn't to be one and done."
KFC will join the ranks of Carl's Jr. and Del Taco, both fast-food chains that offer Beyond Meat items on their menus.
KFC is operated by parent company Yum! Brands, which also oversees Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
Yum! was up 29.55% year over year as of Wednesday afternoon.
Related: With $72M in Funding, the Entrepreneur Behind Beyond Meat Pursues Innovation Over Profit
