Breaking: KFC to launch Beyond Fried Chicken across all of the U.S.

05 January 2022

Beginning Monday, Jan10th, Yum Brands INC’s KFC restaurants will add Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken to their menu at 4000 locations with an average price of $6.99. 

KFC started experimenting with plant-based chicken by Beyond from August 2019 in Atlanta and expanded to Nashville, Southern California and Charlotte, North Carolina. In February 2021, Yum and Beyond announced a global partnership to create plant-based menu items for Yum's KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut over "the next several years."

“This is really about where the customer is going; they want to eat more plant-based proteins,” said Kevin Hochman, U.S. president of KFC.

“Every piece of data we have on the customer—not just for the next couple of years, but decades—[suggests] a diet higher in plant-based proteins,” continued Hochman.

Beyond Meat tweeted about the news earlier today.

Breaking News! We're excited to officially announce Beyond Fried Chicken will be making its national debut on January 10th. Yes, you heard us correctly. Stay tuned for more details and get ready to grab a bucket. We told you 2022 was going to be tasty...https://t.co/1KVAzB8cbe

— Beyond Meat (@BeyondMeat) January 5, 2022

The news lifted Beyond shares by more than 7% in after-market trading. 

Accelerated demand for plant-based protein has compelled Bloomberg to revise its projected growth of plant protein market from $140 billion to $162 billion by 2030.