Vegan Fried Chicken by Beyond Meat Launches In 70 KFC Restaurants

After a successful trial in Atlanta over the summer, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Beyond Meat are bringing vegan Beyond Fried Chicken to 70 more locations for an expanded market test.

Select KFC restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, will have the new chicken on offer through February 23rd—provided the inventory lasts. During the Atlanta test run, KFC sold the equivalent of a week's worth of popcorn chicken in less than five hours.

“The iconic flavor of Kentucky Fried Chicken is one that has never been replicated, despite many imitations, until now,” Andrea Zahumensky, chief marketing officer, KFC U.S., said in a statement. “We’ve really pushed the limits to develop plant-based chicken that I think will have KFC and plant-based protein fans saying, ‘That’s finger-lickin' good.’”

Plant-Based Chicken

The news comes just after Tim Horton's announced it would be removing Beyond Meat from its menus in Canada after a trial in select stores. But Beyond Meat founder and CEO Ethan Brown is hopeful about the KFC expansion.

“The response in Atlanta continues to underscore the growing consumer demand for high-quality, delicious plant-based meats," he said in a statement. "Together with KFC's team, we have created a plant-based chicken that looks, tastes and pulls apart like a chicken breast. I am very proud of what our R&D teams have accomplished and look forward to continuing to lead the charge on plant-based chicken.”

Across the pond in the UK, KFC's vegan chicken sandwich is experiencing notable success. According to the company, it sold over one million sandwiches in just a month.

Beyond Fried Chicken comes in 4 or 12 piece buckets, with KFC dipping sauce options including the Finger-Lickin' Good sauce, Honey BBQ, Buffalo, or Nashville Hot.