Popeyes rolls Little Chickadees as KFC readies sandwich blitz

Nation's Restaurant News, June 22, 1987 by Marilyn Alva

Popeyes rolls Little Chickadees as KFC readies sandwich blitz

As Kentucky Fried Chicken prepares for a major advertising blitz next month for its new one-ounce 39-cent Chicken Little sandwiches, Popeyes is quietly rolling out similarly positioned miniature chicken sandwiches in company restaurants in its home market here in the New Orleans area.

Popeyes is calling its 39^ sandwiches Little Chickadees. They are Cajun-spiced one-ounce square chicken patties on a toasted bun, with a mayonnaise-based dressing and pickle.

"We didn't want to sit back and not have anything,' said Al Copeland, founder and chairman of Popeyes. He said Popeyes would test the product in company stores here before asking franchisees to add them to their menus.

But Popeyes executives said it is still too early to tell if or when the Little Chickadees would become a systemwide menu item. Copeland said early indications of the test show "mixed results' and "cannibalizing to a degree.'

However, Copeland said the mini chicken sandwiches are bringing in new customers whom he referred to as "the kid market.'

"Teenagers love them. Little kids love them,' he said.

Lamar Berry, vice president of advertising and marketing, said Little Chickadees come with "an awfully low price point' but appeal to "a snacking America' and customers who have less disposable income than before.

"We've got to be very sensitive to the pocketbook of our customers. Anything below a dollar is an attention getter,' said Berry. Popeyes has many units in the oil-suffering, money-pressed regions of the country such as Louisiana and Texas, where unit sales have been soft.

The introduction of the Little Chickadees in New Orleans is so far being supported only by in-store banners and posters. However, chain executives expect to launch a full television campaign once the new product is in most of the area's 60 stores.

"First we have got to determine its operational success,' said Berry. "It's a product that we've not been in the business of serving.'

The Little Chickadees require new rotary toasters for the buns and additional labor, numbers of which are still being determined. KFC also had to add new equipment and employees to handle its Chicken Little sandwiches, which the chain claimed has outscored any other product it has ever tested.

Popeyes executives said the chain was able, because of its smaller size, to respond quickly to segment leader KFC's introduction of Chicken Little sandwiches. But they noted that they have had different versions of small chicken sandwiches in their test kitchen for sometime.

"KFC did not invent the small sandwich,' said Berry. "If anybody invented it, it was White Castle.'

"Naturally with such emphasis KFC put behind Chicken Littles, we accelerated and intensified our development,' added Berry.

Popeyes, with 650 units the third-largest fast-food chicken chain after KFC and Church's, positions itself as the "spicy' chicken chain.

Berry said the new small sandwich is "consistent with the taste dynamics of our menu line.' He added, "It's not a bland offering. We would never roll out anything that is plain.'

Popeyes last big product push was Cajun popcorn shrimp, which followed Cajun nuggets and red beans and rice.