For many Burger King fans, it seems that the Ch’King menu item was a beloved and go-to choice. Last month, the fast food chain announced that they would be discontinuing the option and removing this sandwich from the menu, which left many customers upset and led them to air their grievances on Twitter. Now, Tom Curtis, President of Burger King North America, sat down for an interview with CNN Business to discuss retiring the Ch’King chicken sandwich and why removing it from their menu could bring more emphasis to their classic item, the Whopper.
JUST IN: @BurgerKing announces June 3 nationwide release of a chicken sandwich, in regular and spicy called The Ch’King. pic.twitter.com/TOT2PzIVda
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 19, 2021
“What we really want to do in the short term is reintroduce America’s love affair with the Whopper,” Curtis said. The plan, the outlet reported, is to make sure workers are well trained in “making the best possible Whopper, and that kitchens support consistency and ease of preparation.” The publication also spoke with Restaurant Brands International (owner of Burger King) CEO Jose Cil, who revealed that the Ch’King had more cons for the company than pros, even though it was a popular and raved item.
“Over the last few years during the pandemic and coming out of the pandemic … [Burger King US] didn’t do a great job of adjusting our business to the environment,” Cil said, “We didn’t simplify.” He continued, “We, in fact, complicated things, we added menu items … that were more difficult and not necessarily intuitive and typical for us to serve.” Cil was referring to the Ch’King, the hand-breaded chicken sandwich that Burger King introduced in 2021, adding that the product “created a ton of bottlenecks operationally.”
The Burger King Ch’king sandwich beats the others. I’ll eat 100 pic.twitter.com/cawZ0BWfMM
— Daddy Bones (@UpBeatSkeletor) November 16, 2021
Burger King to serve Ch’King sandwich across U.S. from June https://t.co/CvDuuXDtVD pic.twitter.com/Pk9tRGO23P
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 20, 2021
The company recently replaced the item with the Royal Crispy Chicken sandwich, much to the dismay of customers (at least when looking at their opinions on Twitter). The Ch’King “was a great product that was difficult or challenging for teams to execute on,” Curtis said. “The best thing for the guest is great flavor and consistency. So our Royal Crispy Chicken, which we just launched, offers both.”
Dan Accordino, CEO of Burger King’s major franchisee Carrols Restaurant Group, also noted that the sales of the Ch’King apparently didn’t take off the way Burger King had expected them to. “They spent a fortune on the chicken sandwich and it just didn’t do what it was supposed to do,” he said earlier this year. “The Ch’King didn’t generate the excitement that was hoped for,” he said.
NEW SANDWICH ALERT FROM BOLLA MARKET-BURGERKINGThe New Burger King Royal Crispy Chicken has arrived in BBQ Bacon & Cheese, Bacon & Swiss, and Spicy Chicken‼️‼️#bollamarket #bolla #burgerking #cars #nightime #summer #nyc #longisland #vibes #chillin #newjersey pic.twitter.com/hpbiTiC6Xn
— Bolla Market (@BollaMarket) September 5, 2022
Ever since the Ch’King was discontinued, fans have not been quiet about their qualms with the news, as seen in Tweets rounded up below:
@BurgerKing So you’re just gonna discontinue the greatest sandwich you ever had? Ch-King Is the only reason I’ve been a Burger King in the past 15 years anyway. And then you go and discontinue it. That thing was better than Popeyes chicken sandwich. Way to make another bad move!
— Apex Garage Door Services (@ApexDoor) August 10, 2022
.@BurgerKing Why the Christ are you discontinuing the Ch’King chicken sandwich? It was terrific, thick, spicy, crunchy yet moist and so on and so forth. It also happened to be your only menu item that actually made elimination enjoyable. Please explain.
— Richard M. Nixon (@richardnixonus) August 14, 2022
@BurgerKing your Royal Crispy Chicken is far from royal & not nearly as good as the Ch’King was. Maybe I just got a bad one. Not trying again. Didn’t get a receipt either #sadtinypatty #disappointing #sadness #sadsandwich #yourebetterthanthis pic.twitter.com/j4QzerdSBm
— InteriorInflux (@interiorinflux) August 22, 2022
Tried the Royal Chicken @BurgerKing. Tasted good but poor value. Paid $6.49 for a thin piece of chicken. Not as big as the Chi’King (awesome name BTW). #chiking #royalchicken
— Kevin (@kev1006) August 17, 2022
So, we can’t help but wonder, did Burger King make the wrong move in replacing the Ch’King with the Royal Crispy Chicken sandwich? Time will tell.
