Fried Chicken Competition

Popeyes and KFC demonstrate that the $5 mark continues to be a key value play for fast-food chains.

September 04, 2015

NEW YORK – Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen recently announced a $5 meal box Monday deal, while KFC is promoting its $5 Fill Up, the latest signs that the $5 mark continues to be a key value play for fast-food chains, according to Ad Age.

Despite the identical prices, the chicken chains are offering slightly different deals to lure fried fanciers in. At Popeyes, $5 will buy their Bonafide Big Box that includes two pieces of bone-in-chicken or three chicken tenders, two sides and a buttermilk biscuit. KFC’s $5 Fill Up comes with a chicken leg and thigh, biscuit, side item, medium drink and a cookie.

According to Ad Age, the $5 proposition is one that fast-food chains often use to signify value, most notably Subway’s $5 Footlong offer. Other chains have also used $5 to promote their foods, such as $5 for a box of 20 Chicken McNuggets at McDonald's.

"The $5 price point has been the darling of the quick-service restaurant industry with brands lining up to offer their version of value," Popeyes U.S. chief marketing officer Hector Muñoz said, in a statement announcing the chain’s limited-time offer.

The chicken chains must be doing something right, as they both saw profit increases in the second quarter of the year, with U.S. same-store sales rising 3% at KFC and more than double that for Popeyes at 7.9%.

Not to be outdone, the convenience industry is known for having some of the best chicken around, at locations from Stottlemyer’s Texaco in Sarasota, Fla., to Nelson’s Food Mart in Lovingston, Va., and Charlottesville, Virginia’s Preston Avenue Shell and Brownsville Exxon.

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