Fried chicken sandwiches were all the rage in 2019. In 2020, consumers are looking to spice things up with Nashville hot chicken.
“Mentions of ‘Nashville hot’ entrees are up 9.1% in the past year (comparing Q2 2019-Q2 2020). Top dishes with Nashville hot are chicken sandwich, wings and chicken strips,” Lizzy Freier, Senior Managing Editor, Technomic, said.
“Mentions of Nashville hot in appetizer wings are up 50% year over year, while mentions of Nashville hot in entrée wings are up 66.7% year over year. We’re also seeing the trend extend beyond chicken to Nashville hot fish (seen at places like Shoney’s), burgers (seen at Native Grill & Wings) and shrimp (seen at Red Lobster).”
The Nashville hot chicken sandwich originated at Tennessee restaurant Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in the 1930s. Quick service restaurant KFC currently sells its own Nashville hot chicken option, which it describes as “a spicy bird with a savory burn.” The brand also sells Kentucky Fried Wings that can be topped with a Nashville Hot sauce.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is an emerging Los Angeles-based fast casual brand that serves Nashville Hot Chicken. The brand current operates three locations located Los-Angeles and Hollywood, California, but has more than 100 franchise units in development for Northern California, Portland, Oregon and Denver, Colorado.
How to capitalize on this hot trend
Younger consumers – especially millennials – are having a big impact on future food trends.
“Very spicy sauces are most popular overall, especially among young consumers and men. When we asked consumers to rank their preference for spicy foods, 50% of consumers said they prefer very spicy, including 59% of 18-34-year olds and 57% of men,” Freier said.
“Because younger consumers are the greatest foodservice users, operators will want to offer bolder fare since they’re the ones asking for spicy. There are a lot of different ways to do this and because there’s still a large chunk of consumers who don’t like spicy offerings, operators should offer spicy infusions as an add-on, such as Nashville hot sauce on the side or jalapenos as an add-on.”
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