Popeyes Surges During Lockdown

Quarantined Americans appear to have a taste for Popeyes’ now famous chicken sandwich. The brand’s sales surged during the first quarter 2020 despite pandemic restrictions.

Restaurant Brands International released its company-wide Q1 results Friday. The company said same-store sales for its Popeyes brand surged 26.2%. Meanwhile, sister brands saw declines. Tim Hortons sales dipped -10.3% and Burger King saw a slight -3.7%. drop.

Related: How Much Does a Popeyes Franchise REALLY Cost?

Restaurant Brands International Steady Q1 Despite Pandemic Restrictions

Restaurant Brands CEO, Jose Cil, attributed system-wide performance to well-positioned technology, drive thru, and pickup capabilities.

“We are fortunate to have drive-thru, take-out, mobile order and payment, curbside and delivery options in many of our restaurants that have allowed us to be a safe, trusted and convenient choice for millions of guests who have had to change their routines or stay at home in these extraordinary times.  The groundwork our technology teams have put in place over the last two years allowed us to rapidly accelerate valuable improvements to our loyalty, CRM and mobile app platforms that ultimately improve guest engagement and differentiate our iconic brands,” continued Cil. 

“We came into 2020 in a position of strength in our industry.  All of RBI has rallied in the face of the COVID-19 crisis and through the strength of our brands, commitment of our restaurant owners, dedication of their team members and the resilience of our brand teams, I am confident that we will finish 2020 as a stronger organization than when we started the year,” concluded Cil.

Popeyes’ Chicken Sandwich Keeps Lines Long

In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Cil gave more details about Popeyes’ hand in the successful quarter. Largely crediting Popeyes’ famed sandwich for the success.

“It was a really strong quarter even with the impact of COVID-19 the last two weeks of the quarter. As we said, we have seen some progress back to pre-COVID levels [at Popeyes]. What we saw coming out of the fourth quarter when we relaunched the chicken sandwiches continues here. Plus, we have advanced quite a bit on the delivery front. Delivery is growing significantly. Our mobile order and pickup has taken off as well. There is a lot of positive momentum there,” Cil said on Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade.

In the interview, the CEO noted the brand is not just the chicken sandwich show.

“The chicken sandwich helped bring people in. But the whole menu is growing. Our whole chicken menu is growing quite a bit. We have added quite a bit of family bundles. As people are staying home and staying close to the family unit you are seeing folks order out in bigger amounts,” Cil added.

Thanks to Popeyes, Restaurant Brands International is moving into Q2 well-positioned (under the circumstances).

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