You almost have to wonder what Ray Croc would have thought about an Oat & Honey Moon Latte. Or, if Harland Sanders would have tried Peri Peri Ranch sauce to go with chicken tenders coated in his Original Recipe perfected nearly 85 years ago.
Such hypothetical questions seem more relevant than ever as more legacy brands experiment with spinoff concepts. The latest such example was announced this week, with KFC’s launch of Saucy, described as a “flavor-forward dining destination” featuring chicken tenders alongside 11 sauces and 11 curated beverages. There are no striped red and white buckets on sight at the first Saucy in Orlando, Fla. There’s no red at all, in fact; the brand’s color palette is pink, providing significant differentiation from its parent company with the exception of a small “by KFC” on the signage.
Saucy’s debut comes about a week after sister chain Taco Bell launched a new beverage concept called Live Más Café in San Diego in partnership with its longtime franchisee Diversified Restaurant Group. The café includes specialty drinks like Chillers, Agua Refrescas, coffees, and more, alongside traditional Taco Bell menu items. Unlike Saucy, Live Más Café exists inside a traditional Taco Bell restaurant, but it’s branded autonomously as a “unique experience where fans can enjoy specialty drinks … providing hospitality in a cozy, inviting atmosphere.”
McDonald’s took a similar route as Saucy when it launched its specialty beverage concept – CosMc’s – in late 2023. There are now about 10 brick-and-mortar CosMc’s near Chicago and throughout Texas, selling signature offerings like Galactic Boosts, slushes, frappes, and brews.
Meanwhile, Pizza Hut just introduced its first-ever drive-thru design and menu, calling it “Hut ‘N Go,” while Perkins recently added a new fast casual model called “Griddle & Go,” and Golden Corral’s spinoff Homeward Kitchen opened last year.
What is going on?
To be sure, such spinoff brands are nothing new. Texas Roadhouse launched Bubba’s 33 in 2013 and Jaggers a year later, for instance.
Further, Applebee’s opened Applebee’s Express in 2019, while Bloomin’ Brands debuted Aussie Grill by Outback, and Cheesecake Factory launched Social Monk Asian Kitchen that same year. In 2020, Buffalo Wild Wings unveiled its delivery-and-takeout focused concept called Buffalo Wild Wings Go. A year later, IHOP introduced a fast casual spinoff called flip’d.
Most of these concepts feature smaller prototypes to help relieve higher construction and real estate costs and inject casual dining brands into the quickly-growing and high-demand fast casual category. Some, like flip’d, didn’t make it, but that doesn’t make such an effort any less worth it. In fact, quite the opposite – especially now as consumers’ preferences are changing more rapidly due to the increasing influence of technology, social media, influencers, and more exposure to and knowledge about diverse culinary offerings.
“You have to test fast ... Think about new concepts, sales platforms, and delivery platforms. You have to try different things in this environment. The consumer wants to try new things," said Pacific Management Consulting Group founding principal John Gordon. “It might not work, but at least you tried something new.”
Even if a spinoff concept doesn’t work out, that doesn’t mean all is lost. CosMc’s and Saucy are providing their parent companies with a boatload of consumer insights, for instance – about products, usage, operations, etc. – that they can then introduce into their flagships if applicable.
“These brands are doing spins to test how much of the core legacy brand can be changed,” Gordon said.
They’re also enabling those brands to embrace massively popular trends – beverages and sauces, for example – without confusing their core customers.
Of course, that’s not to say there aren’t any risks at all. Taking your eye off the ball (the core business) will always present some challenges. But this industry was built on risks.
“I am delighted these brands are introducing concept updates,” Gordon said. “Restaurants must produce new news and updated concepts to stay up to date with consumer tastes and their desire for something new.”
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
