Wendy’s (WEN) — the self-proclaimed “Queen of Spice” — is adding two new menu entrees: a hot honey chicken biscuit breakfast sandwich and a chicken sandwich.
Dubbed the “hot honey duo,” the latest entrants into the chicken sandwich wars will retail for $5.99 (chicken sandwich) and $3.19 (chicken biscuit), hitting Wendy’s locations nationwide on February 8th. Both options include what the company says is the “sweet taste of honey with a fiery habanero kick” and will be a part of the ‘Made to Crave’ lineup which it launched in 2019.
Currently, the company has a large variety of chicken sandwich offerings, including the Spicy Jalapeño Popper Sandwich. Yet the company says it’s always looking for ways to “upgrade” its spicy chicken sandwich — taking a jab at other competitors in the wildly popular poultry entree space, including Popeyes, Burger King (QSR), McDonald’s (MCD) and KFC.
“Others may do chicken sandwiches, but at Wendy’s we actually craft chicken sandwiches with flavor,” the company boasted in a release — with a pointed dig at the Golden Arches — which it called “McBland.” Wendy’s Twitter feed has become notorious for roasting fast food giants and other social media users.
What are the major chicken sandwiches?
Back in June of 2021, Shake Shack (SHAK) unveiled a limited-edition entree that was also named the Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich. Most recently in the competition, Shake Shack unveiled a limited-edition Buffalo chicken sandwich ahead of Super Bowl LVI.
The chicken biscuit is the company’s first addition to its breakfast lineup since the new menu’s launch in 2020.
Wendy’s Vice President of Culinary Innovation, John Li, said the sandwich brings forward “a new flavor profile not yet seen on the breakfast menu, while building on the success of the simple, old-school Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.”
However, this may be just the beginning of plans for the breakfast menu at Wendy’s.
“When we originally started the breakfast journey, we needed to make it fast. We needed to make it, you know, very efficient to operate with minimal labor and minimal investment to really convince the entire system that we can be successful in the breakfast day part…,” Wendy’s CEO and president Todd Penegor told Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi back in November.
Brooke DiPalma is a producer and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.
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