According to market specialists, the global poultry market remains strong, with growth expected to reach 2.8% in 2025, up from 2.6% in 2024. Demand continues to increase as poultry fits perfectly with the trend for pre-prepared products, both for at-home and out-of-home consumption. High prices of other proteins, such as pork, beef, and eggs, also play a role.
The rising popularity of poultry is especially clear in the quick service restaurant (QSR) sector. Many new menu items are poultry-based, and chicken-focused chains continue to outperform the wider fast-food sector—even as entirely new chicken-centric brands enter the market.
This year, almost all new or updated QSR menu items feature chicken. Chains are launching new chicken wraps, improving chicken sandwiches, and offering fresh chicken-based meals. Major non-chicken-specific brands like McDonald’s and Taco Bell are expanding their poultry ranges to attract customers. This trend is driven by consumer demand for what is often perceived as a healthier fast-food option and the success of chicken-centric chains that are outperforming the rest of the fast-food sector.
More than ever, chicken-centric chains are dominating the wider global fast-food sector in 2025. Well-known names include KFC, Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, Jollibee, El Pollo Loco, Nando’s, Wingstop, Bojangles, Pollo Campero, and Belchicken. In the United States, the number of chicken-centric brands continues to grow, including Dave’s Hot Chicken, Raising Cane’s, Super Chix, Urban Bird Chicken, and Church’s Chicken. Their continued and expected future success shows how well chicken fits different consumer tastes. It offers customization in flavor, sauces, and serving styles, depending on the buyer’s preferences. Whole-muscle chicken tenders especially appeal to younger consumers because they are easy to handle and eat.
Chicken-centric chains are outperforming the rest of the QSR sector.
In 2024, QSRs tried to increase traffic with discounts, value menus, and promotions. But in summer 2025, they all started to focus on one main ingredient to attract customers: chicken. This boom in poultry-based items and restaurant concepts underlines the global shift toward whole-muscle chicken meat as a versatile and perceived healthier protein. We in the poultry industry have known this for decades. That’s why JBT Marel’s automated portioning equipment is designed to create perfect whole-muscle boneless products, such as tenders, cubes, and sandwich fillets, ideal for high-volume delivery to the QSR sector — with advanced systems such as the I-Cut 122 TrimSort, the RoboOptimizer, and the DSI Waterjet Cutter.
Instead of only adding new chicken products to their existing menus, some QSRs are launching separate chicken-focused restaurant brands. This allows them to experiment freely while protecting their main brand identity.
Yum Brands recently opened Saucy, a new chicken chain in Orlando, Florida. It’s a spin-off of KFC, offering KFC’s Original Recipe chicken tenders with 11 different sauces and a range of drinks.
With Saucy, KFC targets younger consumers who like to customize their meals. The classic KFC bucket remains popular, but Saucy tries to bring chicken to a new level. Guests can choose one sauce or a “flight” of four, along with sandwiches, wraps, and side dishes. The strong focus on sauces fits perfectly with today’s QSR trends, where flavor variety drives customer interest.
Beyond the QSR scene, the overall outlook for poultry remains positive through 2026. Rising geopolitical and economic uncertainty, combined with the high prices of competing proteins, keep poultry in the leading position as a healthy, affordable, and versatile option for both home and foodservice markets.
Looking at different chicken cuts, leg meat prices are increasing faster than other parts, especially breast meat. This confirms the growing global popularity of thigh meat. Its rich taste makes it ideal for pre-prepared meals and ready-to-cook products.
This trend creates clear opportunities for poultry processors to automate thigh deboning. Integrating JBT Marel’s Thigh Fillet System into processing plants is therefore a smart and future-ready investment.
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