KFC Innovation: The Chain Restaurant Launched New Menu Nashville Hot Chicken Worldwide

By Staff Writer

Jan 19, 2016 01:47 AM EST

Fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) launched a brand-new chicken flavor on January 18. "Nashville Hot Chicken", as the new menu is named, is launched worldwide, as well in its 4.300 U.S restaurants.

Hot chicken is hardly a new menu in culinary. Fried chicken with spicy red crust has been the signature dish of Nashville for generations. The popularity of the local cuisine is widespread, but it was hard to find the menu somewhere else.

KFC is promoting the new dish with a food truck tour starting in Nashville Village, Ohio and ending in Nashville Town, North Carolina, according to AOL. The food truck tour started on Thursday and will be visiting cities and towns with no KFC nearby.

U.S chief marketing officer for KFC Kevin Hochman said that they think this will be the biggest spicy chicken innovation since Buffalo wings in the 1980s. The dish also comes with specially-designed containers to make is easier for people to dip their biscuits to the spicy sauce.

KFC's move to add this special this to their menu has raised different response and opinions. Nashville's former mayor Bill Purcell welcomes the idea. "It's a very good thing, good for Nashville and good for hot chicken, whatever we can do to focus the attention of America on our city and on our special indigenous food," he said, as quoted by TIME.

Nashville's current mayor Megan Barry was also welcoming, with a little note. "Hot chicken is uniquely Nashville and delicious, so who can blame KFC for wanting to recreate it? But KFC is missing one ingredient in their Nashville Hot Chicken - there's no Nashville!" she wrote in an email.

According to CNN Money, Nashville Hot Chicken is only the fourth chicken flavor in KFC's menu, despite the fact that the brand has been around for 86 years already. The new menu is part of the brand's strategy to resurrect the sales and keep itself in touch with Gen X while attracting younger consumers.

It took an enormous time and effort to perfect the Nashville Hot Chicken flavor. KFC's corporate chef Bob Das stated that their team has worked on the recipe since March last year. To refine the flavor, Bob's team even made 50 to 70 versions of the menu before they decided it's the right flavor.

The new Nashville Hot Chicken meal costs $5.49 to $5.99. For this price, the dish will be served with coleslaw, pickles, and a biscuit. An 8-piece chicken meal or 12-piece tenders meal are also available for $21.99 to $29.99. The chain restaurant also stated that they will undergo some changes and an updated look in the next three years.

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