Cai qun/Imaginechina/AP
Inflation has pushed KFC to put chicken feet on the menu in China. Pictured is a Pizza Hut/KFC restaurant in in Beijing, on August 1, 2019.
For years, KFC customers in China wondered why the chain didn’t sell chicken feet, which are a delicacy in the country.
Now, “I can report back that for this year, for 2022, we are finally selling chicken feet,” Yum China CEO Joey Wat told CNN Business in an interview Monday.
The reason for the change is one customers might not have expected: high oil prices.
Wat said surging oil and food prices have significantly increased costs for businesses.
“We try to absorb this commodity price increase, with … full utilization of the chicken,” Wat said with a laugh. That means using every part of the chicken, “except the feather, I guess.”
Yum China is emerging from what Wat calls its toughest quarter ever. The Shanghai-based company owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains in China, where recent Covid-19 lockdowns affected hundreds of millions, keeping many at home for weeks on end.
From April through June, Yum China said that sales at locations open for at least a year dropped 16% compared with the same period the year before.
That could have been worse. Although “the second quarter was the most challenging to date,” Wat says, the drop in foot traffic was offset by stronger demand for deliveries, which rose about 8% for KFC and Pizza Hut year-over-year.
Still, the company has had to adjust. During the second quarter, it pulled back on marketing and advertising, asked landlords for rent relief, and urged its restaurants to make the most of what they had.
Despite the headwinds, Wat vowed to avoid layoffs this year.
“We will look at all the cost-saving opportunities except layoffs,” she said. “We have 450,000 staff, and 450,000 families to look after.”
Wat said she was determined to keep a “safety net” for her staff, adding that the company was not holding back on store openings, either.
Earlier this year, Yum China set a target to open 1,000 to 1,200 new stores through 2022, and it remains committed to that plan, she said.
Unlike other restaurant chains, the company has also held off from raising prices on meals. Instead, it’s decided to go the other direction: trying to hook more customers with better deals.
At Pizza Hut, for instance, it recently brought back the buffet, as well as a promotion that offers discounts for bigger purchases. “Value for money resonates well with customers under the current circumstances,” Wat told analysts Friday.
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Fast food value meals are quick, yummy and sometimes inexpensive. What you save at the drive-thru, however, might cost you more in health care bills if you indulge in too many of them.
Recently, Eat This, Not That analyzed these meals and found these combos will put you over the limit for calories, sodium, fat and sugar “before you’ve even finished your meal.”
“If you are eating these occasionally, and you feel good, there’s nothing to worry about,” holistic nutritionist Kristen Ciccolini told the website. “The main thing I’d be concerned with if consuming these meals regularly is the sodium content.”
For context, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day; Cleveland Clinic recommends about 44 to 77 grams of fat per day, if you eat 2,000 calories; and the Mayo Clinic says between 900 and 1,300 calories of a 2,000 calorie diet — or 225-325 grams — should be from carbohydrates.
If you’re trying to eat healthier, here are seven meals you’ll likely want to avoid.
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AP Photo/Diether Endlicher
“Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese on a sesame seed bun” made for a good commercial but not a healthy meal.
“This meal contains artery-clogging fat from the meat and cheese, along with added sugar from the soda,” Lisa Young, a registered dietitian nutritionist, told Eat This, Not That.
Per meal
- 1,080 calories
- 45 g fat (13 g saturated fat)
- 1,325 mg sodium
- 144 g carbohydrates (7 g fiber; 65 g sugar)
- 30 g protein
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AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File
On their own, wraps can be healthy. But when you pair them with curly fries and a soft drink, any benefits are negated.
“With 1,220 calories, this meal contains more than half of your calories for the day,” Young said. “And both the fries and soda provide virtually no health value.”
Per meal
- 1,220 calories
- 57 g fat (12 g saturated fat)
- 2,310 mg sodium
- 140 g carbohydrates (9 g fiber; 56 g sugar)
- 46 g protein
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AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File
According to Young, this meal has too much sodium. “This meal contains over 70% of the daily value for saturated fat and more than 60% of the daily value for sodium, making you want to skip it,” she said.
Per meal
- 1,260 calories
- 57 g fat (22 g saturated fat)
- 1,685 mg sodium
- 140 g carbohydrates (7 g fiber; 63 g sugar)
- 53 g protein
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HAIGWOOD STUDIOS PHOTOGRAPHY/Business Wire
It’s got turkey, lettuce and tomato, but it’s no healthier than a burger meal.
This meal has 1,000 milligrams more sodium than you should consume all day.
“People with high blood pressure may want to avoid these foods,” Ciccolini said.
Per meal
- 1,380 calories
- 57 g fat (13 g saturated fat)
- 3,360 mg sodium
- 172 g carbohydrates (10 g fiber; 60 g sugar)
- 51 g protein
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AP Photo/Candice Choi
Ciccolini urges caution for anyone craving melted cheese over a half-pound of beef.
This one meal has more sodium, and more than enough fat and carbs, for the entire day. It also has one of the higher saturated fat contents of the value meals.
Per meal
- 1,310 calories
- 61 g fat (17 g saturated fat)
- 3,370 mg sodium
- 141 g carbohydrates
- 54 g protein
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AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File
The sandwich by itself is nearly 500 calories, with regular-size sides bringing it to more than 1,300.
If you want to go ahead and blow your calorie budget completely, upsize to a large. That will top your meal out at 1,790 calories.
Per meal
- 1,310 calories
- 61 g fat (17 g saturated fat)
- 3,370 mg sodium
- 141 g carbohydrates (7 g fiber; 53 g sugar)
- 54 g protein
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AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File
This combo of a beefy five-layer burrito, crunchy taco, cinnamon twists and large soda packs more carbs than some other value meals on the list.
“The smattering of lettuce on the taco doesn’t count as a veggie,” Eat This, Not That wrote.
Per meal
- 1,240 calories
- 34 g fat (11 g saturated fat)
- 1,780 mg sodium
- 212 g carbohydrates (13 g fiber; 125 g sugar)
- 27 g protein
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AP FILE
This July 19, 2012, file photo, shows a Chick-fil-A fast food restaurant in Atlanta.
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In this July 15, 2019 file photo shows a Domino's location in Norwood, Mass.
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A KFC restaurant is open, Wednesday, April 21, 2021, in New York.
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A customers exits the drive thru lane at a Starbucks coffee shop, Tuesday, April 27, 2021, in Des Moines, Iowa.
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A passerby walks past workers boarding up a Five Guys restaurant along the Nicollet Mall Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in Minneapolis.
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A Panera Bread store is shown Wednesday, July 10, 2019, in downtown Minneapolis.
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This Jan. 24, 2017, file photo shows a Pizza Hut in Miami.
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In this Monday, March 1, 2010, file photo, an Arby's restaurant sign is shown in Cutler Bay, Fla.
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In this March 16, 2020, file photo, a sign indicating that only carry-out or delivery options are available hangs in the window of a closed Chipotle restaurant in Portland, Ore.
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This May 7, 2020, file photo, shows a Dunkin' Donuts at the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport in Moon, Pa.
