KFC, World Cup, tech
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June 9, 2026
How is KFC fixing its U.S. brand? When Catherine Tan-Gillespie was named president of KFC U.S. in April 2025, the fast-food chicken chain was reeling from market share losses and several consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines. She put a plan into place that prioritized product, promotion, place, and pricing. Price has emerged as the biggest priority, and KFC has since become a bigger part of the value conversation with deals like $5 Bowls, $10 Tuesdays and $7, $9, and $11 Value Feast Boxes. Colonel Sanders has also returned as a central figure in marketing. In an interview, Tan-Gillespie said the brand does well when he’s around. After seven consecutive negative quarters, KFC has generated three consecutive positive quarters.
Will the World Cup have a big impact on restaurant sales this summer? That depends. The biggest sporting event in the world is coming to the U.S. for the next several weeks, prompting marketing promotions by chains and independents alike. But while some brands and restaurants can expect a sales boost, it may not have that big of an impact on the broader economy or on total restaurant sales in general. Restaurants in communities hosting the events can expect a sales boost while brands can expect more delivery sales. And chains with innovative marketing strategies can still win over fans of the game.
Technology was a life-saver for restaurants during the pandemic. But it hasn’t been able to save the industry from its current traffic and profitability woes. Why? In part because restaurants adopted too much tech too quickly in 2020, leading to fragmented systems and tech overload when customers began returning to dining rooms. Operators are now getting around to correcting these issues, but the rise of AI is adding more complications.
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About the Authors
Jonathan Maze
Editor in Chief, Restaurant Business
Restaurant Business Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze is a longtime industry journalist who writes about restaurant finance, mergers and acquisitions and the economy, with a particular focus on quick-service restaurants. He writes daily about the factors influencing the operating environment, including labor and food costs and various industry trends such as technology and delivery.
Bret Thorn
Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News
Senior Food & Beverage Editor
Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.
Hi is responsible for spotting and reporting on F&B trends across the country for both publications.
He is the co-host of a podcast, Menu Talk with Pat and Bret, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities, and other experts in foodservice operations.
From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.
He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN.
A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.
He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.
Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.
He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.
A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends.
Bret Thorn’s Experience:
Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989
Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986
Email: [email protected]
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary
TikTok: @foodwriterdiary
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