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And nando's draft beer is 3.99...

KFC gambling on chicken that is grilled, not fried
Tue Apr 14, 4:04 PM
By Bruce Schreiner, The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Would KGC ever have the same ring?

In a culinary gambit backed by buckets of big money, KFC is hoping to replicate its founder's recipe for success with the introduction of Kentucky Grilled Chicken.

This week's national rollout is KFC's most ambitious attempt to win over health-conscious customers as the chain known worldwide for fried chicken tries to reinvigorate lacklustre U.S. sales.

"It's going to get people who haven't eaten KFC for a long time to come back into our restaurants," said KFC president Roger Eaton. "It's going to get people who have never eaten KFC to come into our restaurants."

Eaton says he spent years as part of the team tinkering with a grilled alternative, and the rollout across the United States follows KFC's longest market test ever.

A small number of KFC restaurants in Canada have also been testing the grilled chicken since last year but the largest operator of KFC stores in Canada, Priszm Income Fund (TSX:QSR.UN), hasn't announced a widespread rollout.

Grilled chicken items are staples at some KFC competitors. McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD) offers grilled chicken in sandwiches and wraps, and says chicken sales "continue to be extremely good." McDonald's has also recently been emphasizing its new Southern Style Crispy Chicken sandwich, which is fried.

KFC's slow-grilled chicken drew strong reviews from the lunchtime crowd Monday at a KFC restaurant in Louisville, the chain's hometown. Eddie Collard proclaimed grilled better than fried.

"I think the colonel would be happy," Collard said of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders, whose image remained a key to marketing long after his death in 1980.

Like its predecessor, Kentucky Grilled Chicken has its own secret recipe. The original copy of the recipe - a blend of six herbs and spices - will be kept in an electronic safe at company headquarters. It will sit alongside Sanders' handwritten recipe of 11 herbs and spices coating the chain's Original Recipe fried chicken.

The difference is in the nutritional numbers.

KFC says each piece of its grilled chicken has 70 to 180 calories and four to nine grams of fat. By contrast, the Original Recipe items have between 110 and 370 calories and 7 to 21 grams of fat, depending on the piece. The grilled chicken contains from 160 to 440 milligrams of sodium per piece, as opposed to 290 to 1,050 milligrams of sodium per piece of Original Recipe chicken.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based advocate for nutrition and health, called the grilled introduction a "major step in the right direction."

While applauding the reduction in sodium, Jacobson said the 440 milligrams listed by KFC in a grilled chicken breast still amounts to more than one-fourth the amount that someone middle aged or older should consume daily.

KFC has launched non-fried chicken before, but each prior initiative flopped. In the early 1990s, it introduced a rotisserie-style chicken that fell by the wayside due to equipment problems and long cooking times. A tender roast product followed but lasted only a couple of years.

Eaton said the difference this time is partly in the cooking process. Chicken is cooked in custom-designed ovens in a patented process that takes about 20 minutes per batch.

KFC won't say how much the ovens cost, but Eaton said the company helped franchisees with the expense and would have made such an investment only if it was "incredibly confident about the outcome."

Larry Miller, a restaurant analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said expanding beyond its fried staple offers a huge opportunity for KFC. But perceptions won't be easy to change.

"They still have the credibility barrier to overcome," Miller said. While achievable, "it's tough when your name has 'fried' in the middle."

Mike Ash, who ate a grilled chicken lunch at the Louisville KFC, remembered the rotisserie chicken as "mushy and bland." He liked the new grilled offering, having picked it to the bone.

He said he might be more apt to pick up a bucket of chicken on his way home, though he predicted he might still "fall off the wagon every now and then" and choose the fried option.

The grilled chicken will cost the same as Original Recipe chicken. KFC will offer customers a free piece of grilled chicken on April 27.

But the push for grilled chicken doesn't mean KFC is abandoning its roots, Eaton said. The chain is testing new fried chicken products, and remains committed to its core product.

"It would be incredibly arrogant to think we could create a product that could supersede Original Recipe chicken," Eaton said. "But this product is easily good enough to sit alongside it."

-Associated Press writer Lauren Shepherd in New York contributed to this report.

Nando's is expanding to downtown
By Darron Kloster, Times Colonist
June 13, 2009

Move over Col. Sanders. There's a new kind of chicken in town.

Nando's Flame Grilled Chicken -- a South African-based "fast casual dining" chain with 800 restaurants in more than 30 countries -- is coming to downtown Victoria.

After a successful launch at Langford's Millstream Village two years ago, owners Rahul Bhatia, 24, and Arun Dodd, 28, are taking what they call a healthier version of everyone's favourite bird into the core. They've been remodelling a former sushi place at the corner of Government Street and Pandora Avenue for several months and plan to open July 15.

"It's just better chicken and it's much better for you than rotisserie or fried as flame grilling burns away most remaining fat," says Bhatia, who with his partner and their families have the franchise rights for Vancouver Island and plan to expand into Nanaimo soon.

Bhatia says Nando's is different from fast food places because the Grade A, butterfly-cut chicken is marinated for 24 hours and flame grilled.

Customers get their food delivered to their tables by servers and all restaurants -- decorated in African artwork and artifacts -- are licensed for beer and wine.

The chicken is marinated with the peri peri chili, native to Mozambique and only grown in the southern half of the African continent. It was discovered centuries ago by Portuguese explorers on the famous spice trading route to the East. Customers have a choice of three levels of "heat," but can opt for the mild lemon herb basting sauce.

Bhatia says Nando's has a bit of a cult following, and increased exposure along the busy strip on Government Street will win new fans.

Most of the chain's restaurants are in the United Kingdom and Australia. The new downtown Victoria outlet will be the 27th in Canada. Richmond had the first in 1994.

"Someone who has not tried it will simply not know what the fuss is about," says Bhatia. "Those who have tried it once, have tried it a hundred times and are now dedicated fans."

Customers choose from white or dark chicken meat, in whole, halves, quarters or on skewers and there are sides of rice, baked potatoes or peri fries.

The heritage association would not let them build their patio or use their signage, and pushed their opening back to around mid august.