Dive Brief:
- Popeyes has added six flavors of boneless wings to its permanent menu starting Tuesday, the chain said in a press release.
- The boneless wings come in Classic, Honey Lemon Pepper, Signature Hot, Honey BBQ, Sweet ‘N Spicy, and Roasted Garlic Parmesan flavors. Popeyes said this was the first time boneless wings were available nationwide as a permanent menu item at its restaurants.
- In November, Popeyes added five flavors of bone-in wings to its menu following a successful LTO focused on ghost pepper wings.
Dive Insight:
Since adding bone-in wings in November, Popeyes has seen success in the U.S. market. During Q1 2024, Popeyes “grew comparable sales 6.2%, and net restaurants 4.0% resulting in system wide sales growth of 10.2%,” said Josh Kobza, CEO to parent company Restaurant Brands International during an earnings call.
“We’re seeing exciting momentum in the early days of our journey as a wings player,” Kobza said. “The brand’s first ever Super Bowl ad proved to be successful driving mass awareness to wings.”
The addition of boneless wings could help continue the brand’s U.S. sales momentum at a time when restaurant brands are struggling to draw consumers.
Popeyes said market tests in Baltimore received positive guest feedback leading the chain to believe the items would be successful nationwide.
In keeping with the broader trend towards steep discounting and driving consumers toward digital channels, Popeyes is promoting the boneless wings by giving away six-piece boneless wings on orders of $10 or more placed through the company’s app or website through July 14, according to the press release. In an email to Restaurant Dive, Popeyes said the pricing on a six-piece boneless wings started at $5.99 and varied by location, meaning the promotion has a maximum 60% discount rate.
New menu items were a key driver for Popeyes last year, both with its bone-in wings and its Blackened Chicken sandwiches, which launched in June 2023. These menu additions are in keeping with Kobza’s statement in a May 2023 earnings call that the chain was “leaning into new areas for menu expansion.”
While sauced products require different packaging from Popeyes standard, handheld fare, the brand had already introduced such packaging, and accompanying operational changes, with the addition of bone-in wings late last year.
The launch is additionally supported by a celebrity-backed ad campaign with Jimmy O. Yang. The actor published a viral op-ed in Bon Appetit attacking boneless wings at a conceptual level six years ago, but declares Popeyes has won him over to boneless wings.
