Over 18 months, a team of chefs developed tenders that are 30 percent bigger and crispier than before, responding to what KFC senior innovation development manager Kathryn Lake called "a high number of complaints about them." The relaunch comes as fast-food rivals like El Jannah, Guzman y Gomez, and Wingstop have chipped into KFC's customer base with their own fried and boneless chicken offerings, spurring customer complaints and a drop-off in sales.
Vanessa Rowed, chief marketing officer at Yum! Brands (which operates KFC in Australia), said the old tenders felt too small and dry. "We didn't have the best tenders in the market," she told the Australian Financial Review. The new version achieves crispiness and juiciness through a change in how they are cooked.
The tenders come at a higher price: a three-pack bundle rose from $9.45 to $10.95, and a five-pack from $12.95 to $14.95. Rowed signaled the overhaul extends beyond tenders. "We're going to set the benchmark here and then we're going to do that with every single product in our portfolio," she said, though she stopped short of confirming changes to KFC's bestselling Original Recipe, developed by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940.
The shift reflects a broader industry pivot toward chicken as a menu centerpiece across Australian fast food, with chains like Hungry Jack's launching Jack's Fried Chicken in 2021 and McDonald's introducing the McCrispy in 2023.