KFC is preparing to overhaul its menu after losing ground with Gen Z customers who prefer boneless chicken to traditional buckets of fried drumsticks.
The 73-year-old fast food chain’s long-standing focus on bone-in chicken has left it trailing rivals like Raising Cane’s, which overtook KFC last year as America’s third most popular chicken chain.
Circana data shows bone-in chicken sales have dropped 4% since 2020, while boneless options have climbed 11%. Market research firm Datassential reports that bone-in listings on menus have fallen 72% over the past four years, while boneless options such as wings, tenders, and nuggets are up 29%.
Gen Z diners, who eat the most fast food, make up only 6% of KFC’s customer base this year, according to Numerator. They also overwhelmingly prefer boneless white meat. That’s a problem for a brand built around its iconic buckets of fried chicken.
KFC looks to ditch bones after dropping to America’s 4th place chicken chain
“When we became the number four player I think that was a huge call to action for the business,” KFC US President Catherine Tan-Gillespie told Bloomberg. “Status quo is not going to be pretty for this brand.”
Tan-Gillespie says the goal is to make KFC an “American icon” again. “Somewhere along the way we stopped acting like one,” she said, adding that the company is exploring new formats to appease customers who aren’t fans of bones.
“How do we do buckets of tenders? What does a bucket for one look like, a bucket for two?” she pondered.
While no launch date has been announced for the new items, KFC’s revival strategy goes beyond just updating its menu. It also includes a new spin-off concept called Saucy, a restaurant focused on chicken tenders and dipping sauces.
In September, KFC’s parent company, Yum, acquired 13 restaurant locations to turn into Saucy. Its first location opened in Orlando, Florida in 2024, and its second is on the way in Jacksonville.
The brand has also leaned into viral marketing in 2025, with quirky collaborations like chicken-flavored toothpaste and gravy ice cream.
In Canada, the chain went all in on pickles with a special pickled menu that even included a “pickle Pepsi.”
Whether buckets of boneless chicken can bring Gen Z back to the Colonel’s table remains to be seen, but KFC clearly isn’t staying quiet in the chicken wars.
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