KFC debuts new chicken burger

KFC launched its new roasted-chicken burger menu item yesterday. This comes 10 years after the company launched its fried chicken burger.

The move follows the introduction of its new cooking system in March, which allows KFC to offer more food items with less fat.

Citing research by Kasikorn Research Centre, Yum Restaurants International (Thailand) marketing director Waewkanee Assoratgoon said that KFC currently had 5 per cent market share of the burger market while the market leader had 80 per cent.

Current major players in this market are McDonald's and Burger King.

She said the company wasconfident of successfully competing against the dominant firms.

 "Chicken burgers available today are not totally made from chicken. Only 60 per cent of the meat in each burger is chicken and the rest are other ingredients, but KFC's roasted-chicken burger is different," Waewkanee said.

However, to beat the big players, she said the company would have to develop a number of burgers offering more meat varieties. It plans to launch one to two new products every six months.

With its new marketing strategy, KFC hopes to stimulate the whole burger market, which has been sluggish for many years, as the dominant players have not been very innovative, Waewkanee said.

The burger market only accounts for 20 per cent of the Bt15-billion fast-food restaurant market.

At present, burgers make up only 5 per cent of KFC's total sales. After the new-product launch, the company expects sales from its burger menus to push this to 20 per cent by the end of its fiscal 2008.

Regarding KFC's overall business, she said the restaurant chain recorded satisfactory sales growth of 5 per cent last year. However, the company has seen no growth in terms of customers visiting its restaurants, because people now spend less time eating out, but delivery-service sales have risen.