As president of KFC in the U.S., Kevin Hochman thinks a lot about the future of fried chicken in America. But right now, plants are taking up more of his time.
Hochman runs a division of Yum! Brands with 4,000 stores that has faced multiple hurdles over the past year: the strength of rival Popeyes, poultry shortages, the COVID-19 disruption. However, the chain has largely come through the pandemic unscathed.
But the boom in faux meat, especially among young Americans, offers another challenge, and Hochman is preparing KFC for what looks like an inevitable future of fake chicken going mainstream. The chain has tested a plant-based nugget from Beyond Meat but, so far, hasn’t taken it nationwide. And its ambitions are now bigger than that: to bring a faux option that replicates a piece of fried chicken.
