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- McDonald's makes as much money from chicken products as from beef burgers, its CEO said Monday.
- Chris Kempczinski said it generates $25 billion in annual sales from chicken nuggets and sandwiches.
- McDonald's is competing with the likes of Chick-fil-A and Popeyes, who dominate the chicken-sandwich wars.
McDonald's makes as much money from chicken products such as sandwiches and nuggets as it does from beef burgers.
Executives from the burger giant credited this partly to the success of its McCrispy line at McDonald's earnings call on Monday.
"Our chicken category now represents $25 billion in annual system-wide sales, on par with beef," CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors, reinforcing comments the company made in an investor update in December. This figure includes sales at both company-owned and franchise restaurants.
"We continued to stay aggressive on chicken this quarter, making further progress towards our ambition of developing a reputation for great chicken," CFO Ian Borden said.
Kempczinski said that the McNugget and three of its chicken sandwiches — the McChicken, McCrispy, and McSpicy – were "the building blocks of our growing chicken business."
"We see the potential to add another point of chicken share by 2026, in part through an expansion of our McCrispy platform into wraps and tenders," he added.
McDonald's introduced the McChicken in 1980, though it's since been on and off the chain's menu. McDonald's added McNuggets to its US menus in 1983 and later rolled them out to other countries around the world. It has since launched a limited-edition spicy variant.
It started selling the McSpicy chicken burger in Singapore in 1999 and various versions have been available at McDonald's restaurants globally.
The McCrispy is a much more recent addition to McDonald's menu, available in regular, spicy, and deluxe variations in the US. The McCrispy echoes Chick-fil-A's chicken sandwich.
McDonald's told investors in December that it planned to offer the McCrispy in almost all its markets globally by the end of 2025. It also announced plans to expand the McCrispy into tenders and wraps.
The biggest players in the chicken-sandwich wars are generally thought to be Chick-fil-A and Popeyes.
In its quest to gain more share in the chicken market, McDonald's will also be going up against other chicken-focused rival chains like KFC, Wingstop, Raising Cane's, and Zaxby's.
Younger diners can't get enough of chicken
US restaurant chains previously told Business Insider that they're launching more chicken products to win over Gen Z diners.
"They overwhelmingly order chicken," Laura Dickey, CEO of Dickey's Barbecue Pit, told Insider. "So while we've always had it on the menu, it hasn't always been a feature focus. We've also added smoked chicken wings, and that was a direct response to Gen Z."
Taco Bell's former CEO Mark King told Bloomberg that its Gen Z customers were increasingly opting for chicken over beef. Wendy's told BI that its Spicy Chicken Nuggets were especially popular among Gen Zers.
In a 2022 poll by Morning Consult, Gen Z respondents listed chicken as their second-favorite food overall, ahead of steak, burgers, and fries and behind only pizza.
Chicken-sandwich brand Chick-fil-A routinely comes top in Piper Sandler's semi-annual surveys of teens' favorite restaurant brands.