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Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. ascends to second place in the US chicken chain rankings, overtaking long-time rival KFC, a decade after another significant shake-up in the industry hierarchy.
Popeyes is now trailing behind Chick-fil-A, which has managed to stay on top. The New Orleans, Louisiana-founded chicken fast food reached No. 2 exactly a decade after Chick-fil-A unseated KFC for the first time and snatched the top spot.
The National Ranking of Fried Chicken Chains in the US
Popeyes attained this feat after trying hard for years. It was noted that the company engaged in aggressive marketing and strategies in recent years, and its efforts proved to be fruitful, as shown in the latest ranking results.
As per CNBC, Chick-fil-A was only competing at the regional level before, but it moved up in ranks and reached the national level. In the entire restaurant chain in the country, the brand is just behind McDonald’s and Starbucks based on annual sales.
Popeyes was able to keep up and compete with the major brands after it launched its chicken sandwich in 2019. This menu also sparked the chicken sandwich war, which only shows the massive success of the new sandwich.
Burger chains such as Wendy’s, KFC, and McDonald’s created their own versions of the chicken sandwich, and the fight began. Unfortunately, Yum Brands! KFC lost ground amid the fray, and its market share dropped from 16.1% to 11.3% in the past year.
While Popeyes continues to enjoy success with its chicken sandwich, KFC’s domestic business struggled to keep up with the competition. This development would have explained why the former displaced KFC to take the No. 2 ranking.
KFC and Popeyes Rivalry in the Wing Category
In any case, last month, Restaurant Business reported that Popeyes and KFC simultaneously launched their own spicy chicken wings. This time, the debut of the new food items pushed the restaurants into a new rivalry to secure spicy wing supremacy. Then again, with the recent ranking results, it appears that Popeyes has gained the upper hand.
