Chicken Wars: Fast food companies leaning towards increasingly popular proteins

Several major fast food companies are leaning towards chicken.

McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Wendy’s have shown that in recent months they are trying to enhance their increasingly popular protein offerings.

The fast food giant McDonald’s On Thursday, McCrispy Strips revealed that it will be a permanent menu item at all participating US restaurants by May 5th. CEO Chris Kempczynski detailed plans for the chicken business in February, which he mentioned in the company’s fourth quarter revenue call.

Adding new McDonald’s menu item: Macrispie strip

We are also working on returning snack wraps. At McDonald’sKempczinski tells analysts and investors that the items will arrive in the US “along with several other markets” this year. The chain was recently hinted at the date of the snack wrap comeback in a social media post called “Snack wrap 0x.14.2025.”

McDonald’s also aims to expand the availability of Macrispy Chicken Sandwich from over 70 markets to “almost everything” by the end of the year, according to Kempczinski. As for Chicken Big Mac, the company plans to “continue” and “pulse” the sandwich as “serving only a limited amount of time over time.”

“We are excited by the important opportunities we will see within our chicken portfolio and believe we may add another point of chicken market share by the end of 2026,” Kempczinski said in a revenue call in February.

Meanwhile, Taco Bell has also been making more movements with chicken.

The chain added crispy chicken nuggets to its American menu on Thursday about four months agos After the first limited-time stint in December.

According to the brand, Taco Bell’s nuggets appeared in one-sixth Taco Bell orders during its limited run.

Their latest reappearance is “the first step in Taco Bell’s plan to permanently add crispy chicken to the menu by 2026,” the chain said in mid-April.

According to Taco Bell, Cristy Chicken Nuggets said that “a limited time will be the menu” as one of several new pieces working to make Crispy Chicken a permanent part of the menu next year.

Taco Bell regains crunchy chicken nuggets

At the “Live Mas” event by Taco Bell in early March, the brand said we and our Canadian customers could also expect to see crispy chicken burritos and tacos on a limited time basis this year.

According to the brand, 95% of innovations shine a spotlight on chicken in Taco Bell’s test kitchen.

Earlier last year, the chain rolled out its cantina chicken menu, featuring items such as cantina chicken burritos, cantina chicken quesadillas and cantina chicken soft tacos. Taco Bell said last month that it is “aiming for Cantina Chicken menu items to reach $5 billion in system sales by 2030.”

Executive At Wendy’swith over 7,000 restaurants around the world, and plans to add chicken to its menu.

CEO Kirk Tanner said in a revenue call for the company in mid-February that Wendy’s has “plans to expand its burgeoning categories that include chicken and drinks.”

In a blog post after the company’s Investor Day in March, he similarly wrote that Wendy’s plans are “expanding chicken to provide modern and covetable options for our customers, continuing to focus on iconic square burgers and fresh beef as quality differentiators.” The company has also expanded Frost fusion and chilly swirls This spring.

Wendy is adding a new frosty dessert to the menu

Ticker	safety	last	change	change %
MCD	McDonald’s.	316.22	-2.26	-0.71%
Yam	Yam! Brands Inc.	147.58	+1.42	+0.97%
we	Joint by Wendy’s.	12.83	+0.10	+0.79%

During the investor day, Wendy’s chief marketing officer, Lindsay Radkoski, said that chicken “doesn’t think chicken growth will slow anytime soon, based on the excess index with all our major growth audiences and trends with those audiences.” QSR Magazine.

She also reportedly stated that the chain’s “menus work” on chicken was more intensive than ever.

Wendy recently released the Cajun Crunch Chicken Sandwich as a limited time as part of the spring menu.