Taco Bell Enters Chicken Sandwich Wars With Surprise Menu Item

Image courtesy of cnn.com.

An unexpected contender has entered the chicken sandwich wars. Taco Bell announced today its plans to roll out a new Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco in several test markets on March 11, according to a statement emailed to 1851 Franchise. 

Taco Bell’s new sandwich — or taco — features white meat chicken marinated in jalapeno buttermilk and then seasoned with Mexican spices and rolled in tortilla chip coating. Each sandwich will be wrapped taco-like in puffy bread and featuring a chipotle sauce. There is also a spicy version with sliced jalapeno slices.

This Week in the Chicken Sandwich Wars 

It is a big week for the chicken sandwich category — QSR heavyweights McDonald’s and Taco Bell’s sister company KFC are both set to roll out their new chicken sandwich menu items nationally, fueling an already intense battle for market share. 

Although Taco Bell cut back its menu earlier in the pandemic, it appears to have made an exception in order to throw its hat in the ring and leverage the chicken category’s meteoric rise. 

“When we think about the acceleration of new trends, it’s really clear for us that it’s chicken, and that means chicken as a whole category,” Heather Mottershaw, Taco Bell’s vice president of product development, told Forbes in August. “We’re focused heavily in this area at the moment, so expect lots to come here.” 

Over the past year, QSR chains have been eagerly looking to reignite the flame that Popeyes started in 2019 with its viral chicken sandwich launch. Brands are right to want a piece of the action — Popeyes is generating $400,000 more in average unit volumes since its sandwich launch. 

More Than Just a Chicken Sandwich

As the category becomes more saturated, QSR brands need a way to differentiate their offering if they hope to stand out, which is exactly what Taco Bell is doing.

“Is this disruptive, delicious new item a sandwich or a taco, you ask? Well, it’s a sandwich AND a taco,” Taco Bell said in the statement. “And it doesn’t have to explain itself to be this delicious.”

Taco Bell isn’t the only chain using this “disruptive” approach to generate buzz. In recent weeks, Wendy's debuted a Jalapeño Popper Sandwich, Shake Shack added a chicken sandwich with a spicy-sweet Gochujang glaze and Chick-fil-A rolled out a spicy grilled chicken sandwich. 

Can Taco Bell Emerge Victorious?

Although it may take awhile for the Mexican food chain to establish itself as a primary contender in the chicken sandwich space, Taco Bell does have some advantages over many of the competitors. For example, with 7,259 restaurants nationwide, Taco Bell has a much larger footprint than brands like Popeyes (1,800 locations) or KFC (3,980 locations). In addition, the low price point of $2.49 will also be an advantage as it is $1.50 less than the price of Popeye’s famous sandwich.

Customers in Nashville, Tennessee and Charlotte, North Carolina will be the first to get a taste of Taco Bell’s new Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco, the company said, with the rollout across the rest of the country following later in the year. 

Looking ahead, it appears this chicken-sandwich-taco hybrid is only the first step in Taco Bell’s long-term strategy to secure market share. “Taco Bell fans everywhere will be excited to know this isn’t our only crispy chicken innovation arriving in 2021,” the company said in the statement.