Dive Brief:
- KFC added three value meals, called the Value Feast Boxes, priced at $7, $9 and $11, the brand said in a Monday press release.
- Each box offers a different arrangement of menu items, including fries and a medium drink.
- The price-point value boxes mimic Taco Bell’s $5, $7 and $9 Luxe Cravings Boxes, which have become a mainstay of the brand’s successful strategy of balancing value offers, premium products and LTOs. Yum Brands brought executive leadership to KFC from Taco Bell in recent years to revive the ailing chicken chain.
Dive Insight:
KFC has struggled in the value wars since 2024, when its time-limited $5 meal deal failed to reverse a same-store sales slump. Since then, Taco Bell-inspired strategies like the revival of Hot n’ Spicy wings and Potato Wedges have helped the chain return to same-store sales growth under division CEO Scott Mezvinsky, who joined the chain after several years in various leadership posts at Taco Bell.
Melissa Cash, KFC U.S.’s chief marketing officer, said the boxes are a way of demonstrating the brand’s value to consumers.
“People still expect their meal to feel complete, satisfying and abundant, and that's where Value Feast stands apart, delivering a full box with an irrational amount of chicken for the price,” Cash said in a press release.
The launch of the Value Feasts is supported by an ad campaign featuring Colonel Sanders dancing in celebration of the items, according to the press release.
The new boxes could help the chain accelerate KFC’s return to same-store sales growth in the U.S. All three boxes offer considerable savings relative to ordering their constituent items separately. Restaurant Dive compared the a la carte prices of the items when ordered for pickup at Maryland KFC with the $7, $9 and $11 price points, and found the Feast Boxes offer discounts in the 40% to 50% range. That may be steep enough to draw consumers looking for value.
KFC’s new Feast Value Boxes offer steep discounts
The chain is using a combination of LTOs, especially returning fan favorites like the Twisters, with value-oriented menu plays to entice consumers at a range of price points. In January, the chain added a series of recurring digital deals on Sundays meant to encourage traffic during a slow part of the week.
Yum is also pushing KFC to experiment with spin-offs, like Saucy, which serves as a flavor laboratory for its chicken strips and sauces. KFC will upgrade its beverage offerings in many markets later this year by deploying its Kwench lineup at 3,000 stores, but it has yet to specify which geographies will see the addition of the premium drinks.
