KFC Debuts New Chicken Concept in Florida

Just before Christmas, on Dec. 23, KFC unwrapped a new concept in Orlando, Fla., called Saucy.

As the name suggests, the restaurant will offer dipping sauce aplenty, with 11 sauces (including five types of ranch) joining a menu with chicken tenders/sandwiches, sides and desserts. The beverage menu also consists of 11 options, with a variety of teas, freezes and refreshers. The number of sauces and drinks, respectively, is a nod to the 11 herbs and spices in KFC’s original recipe.

Christophe Poirier, KFC’s chief new concept officer, explains, “You can pick a combo, choose a flight of sauces or, my personal favorite, mix sauces and sides to create your perfect meal. We’re sauce people, not math people, but we tried to calculate it and there seems to be over 4,000 different ways you could order at Saucy and have a different flavor experience every time.”

Down the road, KFC says it envisions adding “limited-edition sauces, trend-inspired sauces and sauces created in response to changing taste buds.”

KFC says the debut restaurant has a modern look and feel, plus a tech-forward customer experience. Drive-thru lanes and indoor kiosks add convenient ordering options.

Lastly, says KFC, “A ‘digital twin’ of the Saucy restaurant takes its real-world data and runs simulations to create proprietary algorithms that inform how to make tenders as hot and fresh as possible – reducing wait time and upping the crisp-factor for every bite.”