Dive Brief:

• Kentucky Fried Chicken is appointing two new executives to its U.S. business, with Thuthuka Nxumalo taking on the chief operations officer role and Christophe Poirier moving from Pizza Hut to become KFC’s chief new concept officer, the company announced Friday.
• Nxumalo will assume his role on Feb. 5, while Poirier’s new responsibilities begin on Feb. 1.
• As COO for the brand, Nxumalo will “be responsible for building a world-class operations strategy and enabling consistent execution in every KFC U.S. restaurant,” while Poirier will be responsible for modernizing the brand’s concept, which could suggest a potential shift in KFC’s operating and development strategies.

Dive Insight:

The fact KFC is appointing an executive from a growing, dynamic market to head its U.S. operations could indicate the brand anticipates changes or new initiatives in its American market, which saw its company sales and franchise revenue grow from $186 million in the first three quarters of 2022 to $191 million in the same period in 2023, according the chain’s most recent 10-Q. 

Sales growth in the U.S. in the third quarter was flat, and year-to-date systemwide and same-store sales for KFC U.S. lagged behind its international segment, per the chain’s most recent earnings release. Operationally, the brand is working to bring an automated inventory management tool to its U.S. system by the end of fiscal 2023.

Nxumalo spent the last three years as operations chief for KFC Africa, where the company has restaurants in 24 countries ranging from Morocco in the north to South Africa in the south, according to the company’s website. The largest concentration of its restaurants on the continent are in South Africa, where KFC has 49 company-owned and 1,003 franchised restaurants, according to company documents.

KFC’s African segment has performed well in recent quarters, achieving 11 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth and 9% year-over-year growth in Q3 2023, Yum Brands CEO David Gibbs said on the company’s most recent earnings call. Last year, KFC South Africa launched Whatsapp ordering, creating what CFO Chris Turner then described as a “sticky” ordering channel.

Poirier most recently worked as global chief brand officer for Pizza Hut, which has seen significant global unit growth in recent years. From Q3 2022 to Q3 2023, Pizza Hut’s unit count jumped by 662 units, according to Yum’s earnings release. Poirier will work with the current leadership of KFC to make its concept more modern.