Why Taco Bell Entered the Chicken Sandwich War
Turns out it’s more than just a silly game of fast food one-upmanship
In summer 2019, Popeyes fired the first shot in the chicken sandwich war, going after chicken king Chick-fil-A and vowing to take no prisoners. After just two weeks, the first battle reports were in: The Popeyes sandwich was a runaway hit. Straight out of the gate, Popeyes had grabbed more than 30% of the already-competitive chicken sandwich market, announcing it had plumb sold out due to astronomical demand. People trying to get a grasp of this chicken sandwich mania blamed Chick-fil-A and its viral, decade-long growth into a 2,500-location phenomenon, surging past Wendy’s and Burger King in revenue. But there was no doubt that Popeyes’ newcomer had struck a nerve.
All of that was before Covid-19. What we thought of as a war in 2019 has ballooned into a grizzled, multiyear saga. According to one survey, chicken sandwich sales grew a whopping 420% in 2020, with Americans ordering 2.5 billion fried chicken sandwiches — roughly eight for every man, woman, and child in the country. Chick-fil-A, surging back from Popeyes’ guerrilla attack, had a 45% market share, with Popeyes halving its 2019 peak and falling to 16%.
Just in the last month, though, we have three new combatants: One is McDonald’s, which…
