NEW YORK — What’s easier to eat than fried chicken? The boneless kind.
Fast-food chain KFC will start selling deep-fried boneless chicken pieces on April 14 as an alternative to its traditional breast, thigh and drumstick pieces.
The new offering reflects the growing popularity of nuggets and strips that are easier to eat on the go, as well as Americans’ seemingly endless desire for more convenient foods.
Officials at KFC say nearly four out of five servings of fried chicken in thenation are now boneless — and chicken with bones could eventually vanish from KFC’s menu.
A piece of the boneless white meat has 200 calories and 8 grams of fat. A dark meat piece has 250 calories.
KFC, which was known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, operates 18,000 eateries worldwide. Now it’s looking for sales growth in the United States following a fall off in China. KFC is owned by Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., whose holdings include Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
Despite its choppy U.S. performance, Yum profited from its presence in China, where it is the largest Western fast-food operator with about 5,300 locations, most of them KFC restaurants.
But since late last year, the company has been working to overcome a scare over its chicken supply in China that has hammered sales. Yum has warned that it expects its profit in 2013 to decline, snapping an 11-year streak of double-digit growth.
Yum spokesman Rick Maynard said it took two to three years to develop its version of boneless chicken, which he said performed strongly in test markets including Oklahoma City and Omaha, Neb. He said the new boneless pieces will replace the chicken filets used in sandwiches.
