KFC's U.S. stores will ditch Pepsi and switch to Coca-Cola drinks

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KFC said on Thursday that its U.S. stores will ditch Pepsi products next year and switch to Coca-Cola drinks. This is the first time in decades that the Yum Brands chain has changed beverage suppliers.

KFC offers Coca-Cola products in some international markets, but in the United States, its stores have been using PepsiCo drinks since PepsiCo acquired KFC in 1986. At the time, KFC was Coca-Cola's second-largest customer of ready-made beverages, behind McDonald's. Since then, PepsiCo has spun off KFC and its sister chains Pizza Hut and Taco Bell to form Yum Brands. Still, the company maintained its partnership with PepsiCo.

The decision, announced Thursday, comes as KFC seeks to win back U.S. diners who have previously defected to rivals such as Chick-fil-A or Popeyes.

“This decision is a key step in KFC’s ‘renewed return’ journey,” KFC U.S. President Catherine Tan-Gillespie wrote in a memo to franchisees and employees. “By establishing a new partnership with Coca-Cola and launching a new beverage line, we will gain an innovation platform that can adapt to changing taste needs and provide customers with more reasons to choose KFC.”

KFC expects to begin serving Coca-Cola Co. drinks in all of its U.S. stores by the end of the first quarter of 2027, Tam-Gillespie said.

Tan Gillespie also pointed out that Pepsi remains an important partner of KFC’s parent company and its international markets.

For decades, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been vying for large restaurant partners; for them, these partnerships represent not only sales opportunities but also opportunities to increase awareness of their respective beverage brands.

It is unusual for large restaurant chains to change beverage suppliers, but it is not without precedent. In 2024, PepsiCo "poached" Subway - the largest restaurant chain in the United States by number of stores - from Coca-Cola. In addition to KFC, Coca-Cola has also successfully acquired many important customers that originally belonged to Pepsi in recent years, including Culver’s, Arby’s and Panda Express.