KFC’s global transformation has sauce at the center

When Christophe Poirier was appointed new chief concept officer at KFC U.S. in 2024, he created a team of experts in dine-in business, culinary sauces, food and design to create a brand that could generate disruptive ideas.

That team developed Saucy by KFC, which includes a menu of chicken tenders and nearly a dozen sauces.

“We took a very disruptive approach. What if the core is becoming the side, and the side is becoming the core?” Poirier said. “When the sauces are the center, you can start imagining a new way of innovating.”

Sauce development

Saucy developed sauces like Chimichurri Ranch and Hot Honey Habanero. These flavors are now part of KFC’s sauce pantry lineup, which includes over 20 sauces ranging from modern takes on classics to internationally inspired flavors.

“We need to have the best tenders in the market, knowing that tenders are one piece of the equation, because to win on tenders you have to win on sauces, and this is why we have developed signature sauces,” he said.

Now, as chief concept officer for KFC Global, Poirier is bringing many of Saucy’s flavors to KFC as part of the brand’s global transformation, which the chain rolled out on Monday.

The transformation includes various sauces and a next-generation restaurant format featuring fresh design elements from the spinoff concept.

KFC is expanding its Kwench beverage lineup across new markets as well, with plans to eventually bring it to the U.S. Menu innovation will include tenders, wings and sandwiches dunked in sauce for a “flavor-first eating experience,” according to a press release.

“A lot of [Saucy] has been like an incubator, because I don’t think it would have been easy to come up with disruptive ideas within KFC because we are a large organization in 150 countries,” Poirier said.

Alongside its new sauces and tenders, the chain is expanding its Kwench beverage platform. That menu, which is already available in the United Kingdom and Ireland, includes premium drinks like Boba Refreshers, Krunch Shakes, Sparkling Lemonades and Iced Coffee.

KFC is expanding the platform from a pilot to a permanent menu in Australia and Canada this year. While there is no current timeframe for large-scale U.S. deployment, new beverage options will debut at KFC’s next-generation opening in McKinney, Texas, later this year.

“The plan for Kwench is to become an additional global growth engine and we cannot say it’s global if the U.S. is not involved,” Poirier said. “We work very closely with all our business units from China to the U.S. and everywhere in between. We are in constant coordination.”

Developing Kwench took a similar approach to the Saucy spinoff. Kwench became a sub-brand under KFC to allow for more innovation, instead of just using the KFC brand to add refreshers or lattes.

Global rollout

“We have a sub-brand which allows us to scale in so many countries with the benefit of being global with local relevance,” Poirier said. “It also allows us to work with celebrities and stars around the world because it's easier to make a collab between a brand like Kwench and a celebrity rather than saying, hey, dear celebrity, would you help us launch our latte?”

Part of that global rollout will include operational investments, like creating a designated area for the beverages, adding a specific milkshake machine and sourcing ingredients that allow for consistency of food quality around the world.

“We are very focused on making sure that we keep the vision and the DNA of KFC, which is taste, alive,” he said.

Alongside its new sauces and beverages, KFC’s global transformation will overhaul the KFC brand itself to appeal to younger generations, like Gen Z.

“You need to be on culture, you need to also make sure that your food is relevant in 2026, even if we were born a few decades ago, and all these things are very important, but at some point, you need a symbol of change, and so we are going through this process,” Poirier said.

Part of that transformation includes moving away from being just a QSR to a QXR, or a quality experience restaurant, Poirier said.

Restaurant design

Much of that experience will hinge on the design elements that KFC is bringing to its next-gen spaces.

An open-concept restaurant in McKinney, Texas, will open in late summer, while a two-story restaurant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that will showcase bold expressions of the brand is set to open in fall.

KFC is developing a new design package that is “challenging all the conventions that our industry is using,” Poirier said.

The design project, which Poirier said is called Muse, will also change restaurant lighting, music and ambiance, he said.

“This new design package is also built on my favorite recipe, which is disruption,” Poirier said.

When younger generations go out to eat, they are often still hooked to their phones and social media feeds, and Poirier said that’s because the surroundings aren’t good enough to grab their attention.

“The restaurant has to be alive,” Poirier said.

The design elements will be kinetic, with lighting and music changing depending the time of day. In the afternoon, music might be a little bit more jazzy, while music during lunchtime might be more energetic.

KFC will also lean into collaborations, like it did with Netflix’s Stranger Things in November. Under the new design, there would be display screens inside the restaurant to show off the marketing tie-in, rather than static posters.

There also will be a push for team members to move away from just serving as a point of transaction to being a “point of connection” with guests, Poirier said.

“We are working a lot on AI, but we really want our team members to be front and center of the guest experience,” he said.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified color elements included with KFC’s design package. The article has been updated.