Popeyes began testing new kitchen designs earlier this year to create a more consistent customer and staff experience. Speaking at TD Cowen's Future of Consumers conference on Tuesday, Sami Sadiki, CFO of parent company Restaurant Business International, said the motivation for the effort was simple: to modernize the chain.
“People love Popeyes food, but we heard the experience was inconsistent,” he says. “After doing some research, we discovered that our kitchen format hadn't been updated in about 10 years. A lot has changed in that time, from the introduction of boneless chicken to digital becoming a more meaningful channel. Those changes required a rethink.”
So Popeyes embarked on what it called an “easy-to-run kitchen makeover.” The company began testing it in California, installing new equipment, updating kitchen layouts, upgrading technology and streamlining processes. Sadiki said Popeyes made a total of 30 “distinct changes” to its kitchens. The company added new equipment that automatically coats chicken, for example, because it's less labor-intensive and frees up employees to focus on other tasks.
Popeyes is currently in the process of testing these kitchen conversations on a larger scale and is beginning to expand the rollout and adjust as it progresses, Josh Kobza, CEO of parent company Restaurant Brands International, told analysts in February.
“We'll do a larger scale rollout in a cluster in California and then a few more rollouts throughout 2024 to refine our rollout model and really figure out how to roll it out effectively market by market,” he said.
The plan is to expand the new kitchen design across the system later this year and into “2025.” The remodeling will be completed in a few nights, without the need to close restaurants during the day. Kobza said franchisees have shown great interest, adding that the main benefit is improved team member capabilities, which should improve the guest experience through increased accuracy and speed. And of course, a better guest experience and faster ordering will translate to increased sales on paper, creating an opportunity to further build momentum for the brand.
“Small innovations like this in Popeyes' system will have a big impact,” Siddiqui said.
Popeyes' same-store sales increased 3.4% in the first quarter, while many chains saw flat or declined sales. Additionally, Popeyes is expected to finish 2023 with sales of $5.5 billion, up 10.2% from 2022 and well above the QSR chicken category average of 6.5%.
Please contact Alicia Kelso [email protected]
