At work, Joey Wat is known as the Chief Executive Officer of Yum China. At home, she’s known as the “chicken killer” by her son.
In reality, it’s a monicker that has to do with the success of KFC China—one of the company’s many fast food brands including Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Speaking at the 2024 Fortune Global Forum, Wat said KFC China kills “1 billion chickens per year.”
To put that figure into context, the country is home to 1.4 billion people, and according to Wat, they eat 8 billion chickens per year—meaning KFC China accounts for a substantial part of the lean protein consumed.
The secret behind its popularity isn’t just a slick marketing team or even AI.
Instead, Wat revealed that she personally sits in KFC restaurants for “two, three hours” watching customers eat—and it’s inspired some of the company’s biggest hits.
“So apparently, when kids eat the fried chicken, they eat it with the mashed potato,” she said, adding that Gen Zers were literally dipping their drumsticks into the side dish and then again into the gravy pot.
“What we can do with that insight is get rid of the bone,” she said, adding that they went on to launch a boneless “mash potato burger”.
“Oh my God, it was selling so well because this is (the) kids way.”
Putting smelly fruit on pizza
It’s not the first time watching customers eating habits turned out to be fruitful: “The best-selling pizza for Pizza Hut in China right now is not Supreme (loaded with pepperoni, pork, beef, mushrooms, peppers and onions). It’s durian pizza with cheese.”
The Southeast Asian fruit is so pungent that it’s banned in many areas on public transportation, hotels and airports.
“It has such [a] strong smell,” Wat said. “[If] you come to the store [and] you don’t like the durian pizza, our solution is, please go out.”
“Thank God we did not need approval from Yum! the brand owner,” she added. Becoming an independent company in 2016, meant that Wat’s team didn’t need to convince “people in New York or Texas or Kentucky” that the grassroots idea would take off. “You can imagine it [would] be absolutely impossible.”
The real-time insight again, proved to be valuable. One in every four pizzas sold at Pizza Hut right now is the durian-kind. Last year alone, it sold 30 million pies.
“Just watch with heart,” Wat concluded. “Some things you can observe directly from the customer and sometimes talking to the store manager helps.”
This discussion was presented by Insigniam. Discussion leaders included:
- Patrick Geraghty, President and CEO, GuideWell
- Javier Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer, DaVita
- Nathan Rosenberg, Founder, Insigniam; Partner, Elixrr
- Joey Wat, Chief Executive Officer, Yum China
- Moderator: Matt Heimer, Executive Editor, Features, Fortune and Co-Chair, Fortune Global Forum