Christophe Poirier, chief new concept officer for KFC spinoff Saucy, has been in the industry long enough to know that a lot of brands try to mirror their customers.
But he has a different point of view. Poirier prefers brands being a magnet.
“There is a big difference between being a mirror and a magnet,” Poirier says. “Sometimes I don’t like what I see in the morning.”
That’s how the company landed on the name “Saucy.” The meaning is beyond the product—it’s an attitude. It serves as a magnet for Gen Z, younger millennial guests, and what he calls “culture chasers.”
“A lot of customers right now are chasing culture and they are not necessarily focusing on, ‘I want to have a boneless chicken product.’ No, nobody wants that. They just want—Not even an experience—a vibe,” Poirier says. “And it’s funny because a lot of brands are focusing on the experience. I think experience is a little bit basic. I have five Gen Zs at home. I am the happy father of a blended family. None of my kids said, ‘Hey Dad, today I’m really looking forward to the great experience.’ No, they are looking for the vibe. This is what they are expecting, what they are looking forward to with brands. It’s something that reflects their personalities and not just fits their appetite. They love individuality, strong flavors, and shareable experience. So I would say the success is all about the vibe and it’s all about the magnetic attraction of the brand.”
Yum! Brands CEO David Gibbs said Saucy is exceeding expectations during the company’s Q1 earnings call in April. Sales are more than double KFC U.S.’s system average, placing the concept among the top 15 locations in the footprint. At least 20 more stores are planned. The company will target sites that “allow us to unlock marketing synergies through geographic proximity,” Gibbs said.
Saucy—housed in a converted KFC restaurant in Orlando—has pink branding instead of the typical red colors found in fast food. Also, “Our restaurant does not look like a shoebox. There’s a lot of windows,” Poirier explains. More importantly, he emphasizes that while many concepts are focusing on chicken tenders as a core product, Saucy flips the script. Here, sauces are the main attraction.
The brand offers 11 unique sauces in honor of KFC’s 11 original herbs and spices: Chimichurri Ranch, Peri Peri Ranch, Jalapeno Pesto Ranch, Smokey Bacon Ranch, Thai Sweet ‘N Spicy, Sweet ‘N Saucy BBQ, Saucy’s Sauce, Spicy Mango Chutney, Saucy Ranch, Creole Honey Mustard, and Sweet Teriyaki. The sauces can be ordered individually or in a flight of four, alongside hand-breaded and fried chicken tenders that are made to order.
Thus far, the Saucy’s Sauce is the favorite. All the other choices are distributed relatively evenly. Although he couldn’t reveal them yet, Poirier hinted that more sauces are on the way that will “allow us to play with seasonality and vibes.”
“I like disruption,” Poirier says. “And what is the meaning of disruption? You take conventions and you take convention upside down. Right now in the world, many brands are focusing on chicken tenders. So the world does not need another one focusing on chicken tenders because you are in the crowd. I believe in disruption, which means what if the side is the core and the core is the side? When people are focusing on tenders, I truly believe that the core is the sauce, and then tenders and fries are becoming the side, and then it opens up to a new blue ocean of opportunities. Gen Z, they love to explore. They love random things. Our 11 sauces, it’s very often that I see customers taking fries and mixing in one sauce in another, making their own cocktails. It’s really what people want.”
In addition to chicken tenders, Saucy offers an EZ Crispy Chicken Sandwich and a Spicy Queso Crunch Chicken Sandwich. However, in June, the brand once again eyed disruption with the Saucy Chick’Ito BBQ, which features a toasted white tortilla with a chicken tender, cabbage slaw, jalapeño pesto ranch, sweet and saucy bbq, and a pickle.
The goal was to offer an entry-priced product at $3.95, but in the most “Saucy” way possible.
“Right now, low price points are everywhere. But the true definition of value is what you get for what you pay, and I truly believe that value should not be at the expense of the buyer,” Poirier says. ” … Chiquito is a nickname to say ‘cute’ and ‘little’ in Spanish. And when you move it to ‘chick,’ and Saucy ‘chick,’ we like to play on words and we like to play on names. This is because Saucy for me is really an attitude. So even the name, we could have called it a chicken taco or chicken wrap, but the moment you call it Saucy Chick’Ito, there is a vibe.”
Saucy is also an omnichannel brand—with kiosks, delivery, and takeout channels available—but 40 percent of customers are eating inside. Poirier attributes that to the bright atmosphere and customers craving real-life interactions. As he puts it, “Food tastes better when the place around you is amazing.” The restaurant is 11 minutes from the University of Central Florida, so on Tuesdays during the school year, the venue hosted “Saucy Soirees” with DJs.
CFO Chris Turner expects franchise and company store growth in the long term, but cautioned that Yum! will be “very methodical” with Saucy’s expansion pattern to ensure it’s picking “the very best partners to work with, and we want to scale it while preserving the unique identity that comes to life when you’re there in that restaurant.”
Poirier views expansion as an outcome, not a goal. Meaning, if Saucy does what it intends, sales will follow. And if sales follow, expansion will come naturally.
“The best way to attract bees and butterflies is not to try and catch them—cultivate a beautiful garden with beautiful flowers, and bees and butterflies will come,” Poirier says. ” … We definitely want to double down or triple down on the success that we have in Orlando. So we will definitely come with new openings very soon.”
