Slideshow: The opposition for rooster sandwich supremacy carries on

KANSAS Town — To begin with arising in 2019 with a dispute amongst cafe makes Popeyes and Chick-fil-A, the level of competition for hen sandwich supremacy has induced a string of eating places to introduce  their individual  contenders. Now, just about four a long time afterwards, rooster sandwiches continue to be a common menu addition. Twenty-20-two saw inventive spins on the hen sandwich, with foodservice operators incorporating their very own acquire on every little thing from the toppings to the sauce.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen area, a Restaurant Brand names Global concept, extra a new breading-totally free just take to its menu, influenced by the common blackened chicken dish. The blackened rooster sandwich is flavored with a marinade of Cajun and Creole spices and served on a brioche bun with typical or spicy mayo and pickles.

Despite the fact that quite a few foodservice areas have thrown their names into the chicken sandwich ring, not all have seen the exact results.

In July 2022, Starbucks Corp. pulled its breakfast rooster sandwich significantly less than a 7 days soon after the item’s nationwide start at the conclude of June.

“We issued a voluntary prevent promote and discard on the hen, maple butter and egg sandwich for the reason that the solution didn’t meet Starbucks top quality requirements,” a Starbucks spokesperson advised Food stuff Business enterprise Information in July. “We are dedicated to a substantial amount of high-quality in the merchandise that we provide and normally act with an abundance of warning anytime a product or quality difficulty is raised.”

Getting the rooster sandwich in a spicy route seemed to be the way quite a few providers headed in 2022. Wendy’s debuted a warm honey chicken biscuit and a scorching honey rooster sandwich in February, equally of which were being made making use of habanero peppers.

“They (habanero peppers) surely are on the better end of the Scoville scale, but they also have a ton of taste,” mentioned Eryn Bennett, manager, culinary and product innovation, in a Feb. 2 webinar.

Although Wendy’s turned to hot honey, KFC Canada, a Yum! Manufacturers strategy, introduced a minimal-edition spicy rooster sandwich, the Kentucky Scorcher. The sandwich was made with chicken breast, lined with Scorcher sauce and spicy mayo and topped with pickles on a toasted bun. The sauce achieved a Scoville degree of 13,500, which is extra than double that of Tabasco sauce, according to the company. When provides lasted, KFC Canada locations have been featuring absolutely free milk with any invest in of the Kentucky Scorcher sandwich.

Wingstop Dining establishments, Inc., also launched a constrained-edition chicken sandwich, topped with the company’s Carolina Gold BBQ sauce, encouraged by the traditions of the Carolinas and their mustard-based mostly barbecue sauces.

“Wingstop’s Carolina Gold BBQ flavor maintains the basic queues of mustard, vinegar and brown sugar flavors that are accurate to its origins, but — in Wingstop trend — our flavor stands out from the crowd,” mentioned Chef Larry Bellah, director of culinary and R&D. “It’s heavier on the sweetness, creating this taste delectable and astonishingly craveable for even the major mustard skeptics. It is a need to consider, primarily on our Hen Sandwich.”

Look at the slideshow of this year’s chicken sandwiches.