KFC tries its hand at burgers

KFC's new beef/pork burger, the Bistro Hamburg, marks the first time the chain has tried out a beef menu item. For now, the KFC burger will only be available in Japan. 

|
Alan Diaz/AP/File
A worker hands a customer her meal order at the drive-thru at a KFC in Hialeah, Fla. KFC for the second time is stepping beyond its chicken home territory, but this is the first time it has tried a beef entrée.

KFC for the second time is stepping beyond its chicken home territory, but this is the first time it has tried a beef entrée.

In Japan, KFC is actually stepping outside its whole quick-service brand personality. Visitors to its site are greeted by the image of a formal waiter saying, “Bienvenue au Bistro KFC.” But the real departure is the introduction of the Bistro Hamburg, a 30% pork/70% beef patty with mushroom demi-glace on a burger bun.

A TV commercial (here) shows Shuzo Kishida, chef-owner of Tokyo fine-dining restaurant Quintessence, tasting and approving the burger. The burger is priced at ¥490 ($4.11 US) a la carte or ¥770 ($6.46) in a combo meal with coleslaw and beverage.

Last year, KFC offered a BoxMaster Fish sandwich in France during Lent and it has occasionally menued a fish sandwich in Indonesia. But beef and pork are a departure that should give global burger chains pause.

KFC long has labeled its premium chicken sandwiches as “burgers,” especially in markets such as Australia and the UK, where the menus skew to sandwiches, boxed meals and Twister wraps rather than chicken parts.

The chain has become quite adventuresome as it moves away from selling just drumsticks and breasts. KFC Australia currently promotes a Kentucky Burger, which is an Original Recipe fillet topped with coleslaw, crispy onions, two slices of cheese, bacon and smoky BBQ sauce. In the UK, KFC offers Pulled Chicken sandwiches. It’s described as “slow-cooked, BBQ Pulled Chicken, draped over 2 crispy Mini Fillets on a bed of Southern-style paprika slaw” on a brioche bun. I’m not sure in which Southern area paprika slaw is popular, but it could be good.

KFC is scoring well with double-patty items, and not just the Double Down. It has a double-decker Big Boss in Canada (as well as a Triple Decker). The Big Crunchy with two Extra Crispy fillets is big in Brazil, where KFC also is promoting a Corn&Philly, which is chicken topped with a corn-and-cream-cheese sauce. Adventuresome.

Curiously, little of this sort of imaginative menuing is evident in the U.S., much to the relief of the burger chains that have enough competition to worry about. Here; no sandwiches other than the Doublicious and the mini Chicken Littles are on the permanent menu. None of its $5 Fill Ups meals has a sandwich. Is it missing a major opportunity here?

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to KFC tries its hand at burgers
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Bite/2015/0209/KFC-tries-its-hand-at-burgers
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe