Popeyes recovery plan is on track, executives say | Photo courtesy of Popeyes
Popeyes turnaround plan, which includes a sharpened focus on both operations and the core menu, is right on track, according to Josh Kobza, CEO of parent company Restaurant Brands International. That is despite a same-store sales decrease of 5.2% in the second quarter, the chain’s sixth straight quarterly decline and continuing its worst sales slump in at least two decades.
“Popeyes is going exactly pretty much as we hoped it would,” he said during the company’s earnings call Thursday. “We expect 2H to be positive.”
The company tapped Peter Perdue as the chicken chain’s president in late 2025 after sales declines began to accelerate. Perdue had previously served as chief operating officer of sibling chain Burger King and RBI was looking to integrate that playbook into Popeyes. RBI executives have blamed too many promotions, inconsistent operations, and an incoherent value position for Popeyes’ recent challenges.
Kobza said those issues are being addressed “very quickly.” On value, for instance, Popeyes added a $5 Faves menu in January, a $20 Family Meal, and brought back the $6 Big Box. The $5 Faves platform has driven higher repeat purchase behavior and has helped support traffic.
“In Q2, we layered on the $6 Big Box and our $20 Family Meal to serve additional occasions. We’ll continue to focus on maintaining consistent, easy-to-understand value for guests moving forward,” Kobza said. “That’s been very effective and worked exactly as we thought it would and maybe a little bit better, and that’s helped to bring traffic back in and stabilize sales.”
Meanwhile, the marketing spotlight has shifted back to the core menu. Popeyes upgraded its chicken tenders during the quarter, for instance, and has been promoting it through a new $9.99 value menu, as well as DoorDash and Uber Eats deals. Kobza said product satisfaction scores have improved across all of the chain’s core items.
Popeyes is also making progress on the operations side, with guest complaints and errors “moving in the right direction.” The company has also increased its field support with coaching visits and more training. Operational improvements tend to take time, Kobza said, but the company has prioritized investments here.
“We dramatically expanded the field team. Those folks are starting to really engage with our restaurants and make progress in some of the ones that were lagging behind a little bit,” he said. “Recovery is very much on track with what we were hoping for.”
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