Popeye's New 'Travelers' Snack Items

Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen is introducing an on-the-go snack menu called "Louisiana Travelers."

The menu currently features 2 permanent menu items:  Louisiana Nuggets and Louisiana Tenders.

"We know many of our guests lead busy, time-crunched lives, so it's important to offer them quality, delicious food that can be enjoyed in the car or on the road," says Dick Lynch, CMO, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. "Our Louisiana Travelers Nuggets and Tenders are perfect for anyone that needs a quick, easy snack or meal as a part of their busy day."

The nuggets are available in 6 or 9 piece sizes and as 'mild' or 'spicy.'

The Tenders come in 3 or 5 piece sizes in 'mild' only.

To go along with these 'to-go' items, Popeye's is now making their signature "Delta Sauce" available in a portable dipping package for the first time.

The introductory price of both these menu items is $1.99.

The 6 piece Louisana Nuggets have 220 calories and 12 grams of fat.  Complete nutritional information:

Popeye's changes name & logo

Back December of 2006 we wrote about Popeye's spin-off franchise, "Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen."

Now it seems that Popeye's is going to re-brand their primary franchise, "Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits" as "Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen."

The "brand transformation" will include new menu items, national ads, and a new logo (pictured at right), in an effort to tie the brand to its Louisiana culinary traditions.

The change "reminds customers of the labor that goes into creating the brand's
authentic taste. Popeye's CMO, Dick Lynch, says "many consumers do not know the chicken is
marinated for at least 12 hours—-something he calls the Popeyes
Paradox, the company's ability to bring slow-cooked food to the
fast-food consumer."

Three new menu items already on the old Popeye's website are: the
Loaded Chicken Wrap, made with all-white meat chicken, red beans and
rice, and a cheddar tortilla; the Delta Mini, with all-white
meat chicken on a mini toasted bun with Delta sauce; and the Chicken
Biscuit, crispy all-white meat marinated in Louisiana seasoning on a
buttermilk biscuit. They are each priced at $1.49.

Popeyes new fast-casual concept

QSR Web reports that Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits has announced the opening of a fast-casual hybrid concept, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

According to a news release, the restaurant expands upon Popeyes' rich history and entices guests with a variety of authentic Cajun and Creole flavors, while offering the convenience of a quick-serve restaurant.

From the expanded menu to the atmosphere to the aromas, flavors and images, we hope our new restaurant provides our guests with that 'little something extra' the Cajuns call lagniappe," said Ken Keymer, president and chief executive of Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits.

The first Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen location opened Dec. 12 in Norcross, Ga. A second restaurant, in Fayetteville, Ga., is planned for early 2007.

Both locations will offer Popeyes' traditional menu items, along with new recipes such as New Orleans- style BBQ shrimp, Voodoo BBQ Ribs, Red Bean & Sausage Soup served in a bread bowl, signature Cajun burgers, Bayou Blackened Catfish, Big Easy Grilled shrimp skewers and N'awlins Bread Pudding. Guests also can customize their meal at the Sauce Bar.

Popeye's 360° safe program

I was pleased to find a logo on Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits web site touting the safety and 'quality' of their products. Of course, a logo doesn't guarantee quality, but it might mean they are at least thinking about it.

Unfortunately there isn't a great deal of background information on the program.

Clicking on the logo takes you to a page with a bigger version of the logo and a succinct description of the program: "Our quality goes full circle. Quality Product: We never compromise on quality. Quality Partners: We select food suppliers that meet our high standards. Quality Process: Our associates are committed to quality cooking standards."

I suppose these statements are a simplified version of what McDonald's is trying to do with their Farm to Table web site.

Church's takes on Popeye's

Church's Chicken and Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits used to be friendly rival purveyors of chicken. They were, after all, owned by the same parent company.

That has now changed. Church's has gone on the offensive to promote their spicy chicken as the best... better than Popeyes.

Church's was purchased in 2004 by a subsidiary of the First Islamic Bank of Bahrain. Now they are running TV ads showing a Popeye's employee stating "Church's spicy beats Popeyes." As quoted in the AJC, Church's President and CEO Harsha Agadi said, "Whenever anybody mentions spicy chicken, we want them to think Church's."

Rob Calderin, Popeye's chief marketing officer, looks at it another way: "I think it is flattering ... that they are using Popeyes as the gold standard on which to compare themselves."

Back in December, we wrote about Church's new website.

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By the way, did you ever notice the double logos on some of Church's restaurants and signs?

Evidently it really bothered the folks at 'i me mine productions' and they produced this 'documentary' on the subject, which includes an interview with and explanation from Church's Director of Operations, Mono Moitra. Watch it:

Fast-food chains try going small

Two of the biggest burger chains -- Wendy's and Burger King -- are developing restaurants with smaller kitchens and seating areas that operate profitably in small towns, cost less to build and fit into cheaper parcels of land. Popeye's is looking to follow suit, and even Applebee's, a sit-down restaurant, is looking to reduce square footage in rural area restaurants. YUM! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, A&W and Long John Silver's) hasn't started downsizing there restaurants per-se, but they're accomplishing the same thing by putting mulitple restaurants in one location. [AP]

Hundreds Of Fast-Food Restaurants Closed by Hurricane Katrina

DES MOINES, Iowa (Dow Jones)--Hurricane Katrina left hundreds of fast-food restaurants closed or damaged in its devastation.

More than 200 McDonald's Corp. (MCD) restaurants remained dark in the storm's path as of midday Wednesday. Burger King Corp. said about 120 of the 180 restaurants initially hit were still closed.

"We're assessing damage to our restaurants, but transportation, power and the lack of communication make it difficult," said McDonald's pokesman Bill Whitman.

McDonald's has dispatched an assessment team to the Gulf Coast to "get a firsthand account of what we need to do to help our people as well as others in the disaster area," he said. The company also has contacted the American Red Cross, although Whitman indicated that McDonald's hadn't determined what assistance it might render.

"Our first priority is to locate all of our employees and insure their safety," he said.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on New York City, the chain trucked in food and water to the Ground Zero area, for residents as well as those involved in rescue and recovery.

Burger King has marshaled a half dozen semitrailer trucks loaded with everything from canned goods and water to bug spray and diapers to assist those in what a spokeswoman called "the Burger King family." That would include franchisees - most of the restaurants along the Gulf Coast are franchised – and their employees.

Those trucks are "staged" and waiting for word that it is safe to enter the storm's zone.
"We also will provide cash assistance" for emergency housing and similar basic needs, said Edna Johnson, a senior vice president at the Miami-based hamburger chain.

More than 4,000 restaurant workers have been affected by the storm, she said, adding that "we're still trying to account for all" of them.

Because of operating difficulties and disrupted supply lines, many of the Burger Kings operating in the ravaged areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were serving a limited menu.

Johnson said at last count 57 Burger Kings were closed in Louisiana, 52 in Mississippi, 15 in Alabama and six in the Miami area.

Among restaurants hardest-hit in and around swamped New Orleans was AFC Enterprises Inc.'s (AFCE) Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits chain, which has 43 stores in that market, according to the company's Web site. It also has eight restaurants in and around Biloxi, Miss. All told, Popeyes operates at 153 locations in Louisiana and 56 in Mississippi.

Popeyes spokeswoman Alicia Thompson said the Atlanta company was pulling together information on the situation and couldn't elaborate.

"With so many employees in the New Orleans market we've been making sure they're OK," she said. "Now we're starting to assess, as much as we can, where we are."

Other chains hit by Katrina's fury include Sonic Corp. (SONC), which said it has about 60 drive-ins affected in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. A spokeswoman said the Oklahoma City company was seeking to determine the extent of damage and wasn't prepared to comment further. Sonic has about 3,000 stores nationwide.

There was no immediate word on storm damage to restaurants in the Yum Brands Inc. (YUM) portfolio, which include KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, A&W and Long John Silver's.

Unlike some other retailers that may be able to eventually capture sales postponed because of the storm, restaurants have no such opportunity. Once a meal period is passed, revenue is lost, and so an economic impact is inevitable for franchisers and their franchisees, who pay a percentage of every sales dollar rung up.

from Cattle Network News.

Chicken!

About 25 percent of chicken consumed in the United States is eaten in fast-food restaurants – up from 17 percent ten years ago, according to new data from the National Chicken Council. And that figure may climb even further with these brand new chicken menu items:

• Burger King will roll out BK Chicken Fries, its answer to McDonald's and Wendy's chicken strips. BK already features chicken in theirTenderCrisp chicken sandwiches and meal-sized salads.
• Wendy's will promote a Monterey Ranch chicken sandwich next month as a limited time offer. Wendy's currently offers Homestyle chicken strips and Chicken Temptations sandwiches and has mentioned the possibility of flavored chicken strips as well as a line of deli-style sandwiches which will have a chicken variety.
• McDonald's is introducing 3 new chicken sandwiches: the Classic, Ranch BLT, and Club. This adds to their existing chicken menu items: Chicken Selects, Chicken McNuggets, and their Premium Salads. (Note: From August 11 to 14, McDonald’s will be handing out Premium Chicken Sandwich menus featuring three coupons (one for each sandwich) in participating restaurants nationwide while supplies last. The coupons offer a free medium drink and medium fry with the purchase of a Premium Chicken Sandwich. McDonald’s national advertising campaign launches August 2.)
• Church's Chicken has announced the launch of its spicy bone-in chicken and chicken tenders which will be available starting July 25th. The 'heat' will be supplied by a mix of jalapeno, cayenne, chili, black and white pepper. Church's introduction of spicy chicken is an attempt to take on former sister company Popeye's in the spicy fried chicken field.
  

Fast food openings in China, Iraq and India

Burger King will be opening its first store in China later this month in Shanghai [Shanghai Daily]. Earlier this month, Popeyes Chicken opened their first store in Iraq [Blackanthem.com]. Eastern India’s maiden KFC outlet was unveiled in Calcutta. [Calcutta Telegraph]