REIMAGINING INDULGENCE WITH KWENCH BY KFC
REIMAGINING INDULGENCE WITH KWENCH BY KFC
KWENCH BY KFC
PROJECT
DIRECTED
BY:
STEPHEN VIVIAN
There are brands that sell food, and there are brands that sell feeling. KFC, for all its scale and global familiarity, has always belonged to the latter category. Its red and white stripes, its unmistakable flavour, and its promise of simple joy form a universal shorthand. But legacy is not a licence to stand still. In an industry where new challengers emerge every week, even the most iconic brands must continually reimagine what relevance tastes like.
That question sits at the heart of Dhiren Karnani’s role as Global Director of New Concepts at KFC. His remit is not simply to develop new products, but to define what modernity means for a brand that has already conquered the world. As he puts it, everyone is doing chicken now. The category is booming, and consumers, particularly younger ones, increasingly shape which brands will remain meaningful. Understanding what they want from the quick-service experience has become central to defining KFC’s next chapter.
His team’s answer is Kwench by KFC, a beverage sub-brand that is reshaping how KFC engages with modern consumers, especially younger audiences for whom drinks have become cultural objects. It is a bold move that stretches far beyond product development into identity, occasion, and expression, turning beverages into a new entry point for brand discovery.
Karnani and his team observed a simple but powerful shift: drinks have become a form of self-expression. The image of a drink now lives online as much as it does in someone’s hand. “The next generation uses beverages as social currency,” he explains. “It is the perfect embodiment of treat culture, affordable little splurges bringing joy in an uncertain world.”
Rather than treating this as a trend, KFC built a long-term framework around it. Kwench was designed not as a campaign, but as a platform, with its own voice, energy, and flexibility, reinforcing the essence of the master brand while creating new room to play. Every drink in the range is flavour-led, crafted with quality ingredients, and built to deliver the same satisfaction that made KFC’s chicken famous.
The offer balances refreshment and indulgence. Sparkling lemonades and boba-style refreshers sit alongside milkshakes and iced coffees, each developed to pair intuitively with KFC’s savoury menu. The star performer, the Krunch Shake, takes inspiration from
Dhiren Karnani’s role as Global Director of New Concepts at KFC
The UK’s #1 syrup brand
KFC inspires us to raise the bar. As their flavour partner, MONIN brings future-ready innovation - data-led insights, rapid prototyping and supply built for scale and compliance. Together we deliver drinks that delight guests and simplify operations, proving that smart partnership can move fast, stay rigorous and create lasting value across markets.
Tihomir Gergov, Managing Director - MONIN UK & Ireland
KFC’s signature crispy texture and translates it into a drink that is rich, playful, and instantly craveable. There is nothing throwaway or synthetic about the range; instead, every drink feels purposeful, real, and surprisingly refined for a quick-service environment.
The opportunity with Kwench goes further than attracting younger consumers. It creates new ways for people to experience KFC. Kwench introduces fresh moments into the day when people might choose the brand, beyond familiar mealtimes. It becomes part of the everyday: the afterschool stop, the mid-afternoon lift, the small treat between commitments. And critically, beverages have proven to be a powerful hook that draws new consumers into KFC restaurants, who then discover the food. As Karnani puts it, “We want them to come in for the drink, then stay for the chicken”.
Behind the creative shine sits a meticulous operational logic. Launching a global sub-brand across more than 30,000 restaurants requires extraordinary coordination. To start on this journey, Karnani’s team partnered with Yum’s inhouse strategy agency, Collider, to codify the opportunity; beverage experts Monin and Britvic to shape flavour and craft; equipment partner Middleby to ensure delivery at scale; and creative agency Mother to define the brand world. Each partner contributed not just capability but perspective. Monin’s flavour specialists and barista experts helped refine complexity and balance. Creative partners built a visual language that feels energetic, expressive, and unmistakably part of the KFC family.
“We were late to the beverage game, so we surrounded ourselves with people who live and breathe flavour and craft,” Karnani says. “Together we found a way to deliver café-level quality in a quick-service environment.”
Sustainability was built in from the start. Partner selection was filtered through responsible sourcing and waste reduction standards. Equipment
deployed in restaurants is energy efficient. Recipes avoid artificial colouring and unnecessary additives. None of this is used as marketing rhetoric; it is simply the foundation for the vision of Kwench. As Karnani puts it, fast food does not have to mean junk food. The ambition is to put the good in finger-lickin’ good.
The design world of Kwench reflects the same intention. The brand universe is bold, sensorial, and confidently modern without discarding heritage. The drinks are the hero: big, unapologetic, and
viscerally delicious. Styling is expressive, full of character and movement. The tone of voice is confident, self-aware, and full of charm, the sassy, sippy sibling of KFC’s famous forefather. Every touchpoint, from the straw to the carrier, has been designed with social moments in mind. “Everything about Kwench is designed to make KFC feel alive,” Karnani explains. “The best reaction we have had is people saying it looks fresh but still feels like us.”
The early proof comes from the launch in Manchester, where eight out of ten
FOOD & BEVERAGE KWENCH BY KFC
customers described KFC as more modern and innovative after experiencing Kwench. That perceptual shift is as valuable as any sales metric. It shows that brand transformation does not always require reinvention. Sometimes it just requires the right spark.
The next challenge is taking this brand opportunity global. To build momentum, KFC has created immersive Kwench Colleges, hands-on sessions where marketing, design, supply chain, and operations teams experience the
products, equipment, and customer flow themselves. “Innovation only sticks when the whole system moves together,” Karnani says. “When people feel ownership, they become the best ambassadors you could ask for.”
For him, momentum is the most powerful accelerant within a system as large as KFC. One of his biggest lessons has been the value of creating something tangible. The moment a prototype exists, the question shifts from “Is this the right opportunity?” to “How do we make this work and make
FOOD & BEVERAGE KWENCH BY KFC
it even better?”. People respond far more creatively to a stimulus than to a blank page. The role of innovators, he believes, is to create that stimulus, something real enough for the organisation to gather around.
Clarity of purpose anchors everything. The process will always be messy. Timelines shift, details evolve, unexpected challenges appear. But if the why still holds, if it makes sense for consumers, for the brand, and for the business, then the team pushes forward. That clarity becomes the constant. Everything else can flex.
Scepticism is inevitable, but Karnani has learned that it usually stems from one of two places: fear of the unknown, or competing priorities. Fear is eased through clarity and demonstration, showing rather than telling. Bandwidth challenges require identifying natural believers, those energised by building something new. They are the ones who create momentum. “In a big system, energy is contagious,” he says. “Find the people who light up. They pull others with them.”
What helps within Yum is that teams are deeply grounded in restaurant reality, regardless of the function they represent.
Kwench arrives at a fascinating moment for the global quick-service sector. Consumer expectations are evolving faster than ever. Traditional mealtimes have dissolved into spontaneous snacking and sipping. Texture, flavour exploration, portability, and visual appeal now shape choice. The brands that win will be those that deliver indulgence on demand while remaining unmistakably themselves.
For KFC, this is not a departure. It is a continuation. The same confidence that made fried chicken a cultural icon is now being applied to drinks and desserts. Kwench is a bridge to younger audiences and a reminder to long-time fans that KFC knows how to surprise. It speaks the language of the present without losing its accent.
Carlsberg Britvic
Carlsberg Britvic partnered with KFC to launch Kwench into the UK market this year. We collaborated with KFC to combine craft-level beverage quality with scalability across their UK business. KFC signature lemonade was produced by Carlsberg Britvic in December 2024 for launch into market in 2025. We used our expertise to cocreate to make the brand globally consistent and locally adaptable.
About Carlsberg Britvic
Carlsberg Britvic is a beverage powerhouse and home to some of the UK’s most iconic and popular beers and soft drinks.
Formed in January 2025, its varied and unparalleled portfolio offers brilliant drinks to excite consumers everywhere, whatever their taste. The business is the largest multi-beverage supplier in the UK and Carlsberg Group’s largest market by revenue. From legendary names like Carlsberg Danish Pilsner and 1664, rising stars Birrificio Angelo Poretti and Brooklyn Brewery beers,
and leading British ales Hobgoblin, Pedigree and Wainwright, Carlsberg Britvic provides an enviable selection of the best brands in beer. With low- and no-alcohol options such as Carlsberg 0.0, Brooklyn Special Effects and Erdinger Alkoholfrei, there’s always a choice for everyone.
Carlsberg Britvic’s compelling soft drinks range offers well-known brands including Fruit Shoot, Robinsons, Tango, J2O, London Essence, Teisseire, Plenish and Jimmy’s Iced Coffee.
Under exclusive PepsiCo agreements, the company is also licensed to make, market and sell popular drinks including Pepsi MAX, 7UP, Lipton Ice Tea and Rockstar Energy.
Its strong national footprint includes five production facilities and a logistics operation with 16 depots servicing customers across the UK. With strong values, proud heritage and great ambitions, the business is committed to delivering outstanding service, investing in its people, and innovating to benefit communities and the planet.
FOOD & BEVERAGE KWENCH BY KFC
The business logic is clear. New dayparts create new revenue streams. Strong drink offerings attract new audiences. Habitual products like iced coffee increase frequency. But the emotional logic is stronger. Kwench is a signal of renewal, modern, expressive, and alive.
Reflecting on the journey, Karnani recalls a line that has stayed with him for years: aim for the absurd and accomplish the impossible. “The power of momentum, clarity, and belief, that is what turns absurd into possible,” he says.
And that is what Kwench represents. Not a reinvention of KFC, but a vivid reminder that innovation is not about being loud, but about being alive. It is the taste of a brand that still understands the thrill of discovery, the comfort of familiarity, and the value of joy in its simplest, most shareable form.
In a world filled with newcomers trying to look fresh, KFC has managed to feel fresh. Kwench is proof that the world’s most recognisable chicken brand still has plenty left to say, one sip at a time.
www.kfc.co.uk
