Chicken Sandwich Wars Bring New Supply And Demand Struggles To KFC, McDonald's

Both KFC and McDonalds had a late start to the Chicken Sandwich Wars, but the demand for their sandwiches has skyrocketed since their releases and the restaurants are having to keep up with the hefty supply.

KFC happens to be selling twice the volume of their new creation in comparison to its past versions, according to Yum Brands, per CNBC. It debuted its sandwich in February of this year.

The quarter-pound, all-white meat, double-breaded chicken breast filet that’s situated between a buttery brioche bun with crispy pickles and Colonel’s real mayo is flying out the restaurant’s doors and even has created repeat customers.

“In fact, as we’ve entered [the second quarter], demand for the new sandwich has been so strong that, coupled with general tightening of domestic chicken supply, our main challenge has been keeping up with that demand,” Yum CEO David Gibbs said.

On the other hand, McDonald’s Crispy Chicken and Spicy Crispy Chicken sandwiches have made their mark as well. The franchisees around the nation are selling, on average, 262 of these sandwiches a day, Kalinowski Equity Research’s quarterly survey of operators reported, per CNBC.

The sandwich is described as “CrispyJuicyTender” and includes a crispy chicken filet that has crinkle-cut pickles on a buttered potato roll and was also released in February of this year.

Burger King, Chick-Fil-A and Wendy’s are all in the war as well though it is unclear how much demand they have been facing. Popeyes was the first in this "war," whose sandwich had great success during its first few months after its initial release.