British Columbians will have to keep waiting for Popeyes Chicken Sandwich

Credit to Author: Harrison Mooney| Date: Sun, 03 Nov 2019 03:16:09 +0000

The Popeyes chicken sandwich may be back, but for Canadians, it was never really here.

After completely changing the chicken sandwich game back when Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen first debuted the offering in August, its popularity exploded. Soon it was sold out across America, and for the last two months, those who fell hard for it were forced to go without.

On Sunday, which also happens to be National Sandwich Day in the United States (and the Sabbath, meaning direct competitor Chick-Fil-A will be closed), the Popeyes sandwich makes its long-awaited return.

But for British Columbians, the wait continues. Popeyes operates six locations in B.C. and three locations in the Lower Mainland — one in Port Coquitlam, one in Surrey, and another that opened in Abbotsford this weekend — and none of them will be serving the sandwich.

For now, the sandwich described by Popeyes’ president Felipe Athayde as “the Air Jordan of chicken sandwiches” is only available in the U.S. The earliest it will come to Canada is 2020, a staffer at the Surrey store said Saturday when reached by Postmedia.

Staff at the Coquitlam location, meanwhile, said they never relish having to break such bad news to their customers, who are “pretty disappointed” each time.

Y’all…the sandwich is back Sunday, November 3rd. Then every day. 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/JDxyCIv0zz

For Metro Vancouver residents, the nearest place to get the fabled chicken sandwich starting Sunday is across the border in Lynden, Washington.

You’d think it wouldn’t be so difficult to simply bring a chicken sandwich to Canada, especially one with such an impact on the company’s bottom line. Popeyes saw sales spike by 9.7 per cent over their entire fiscal third quarter, and the sandwich was only on the menu for two weeks.

But as Athayde explained to the Financial Post last week, it’s not just a matter of deciding to serve Canadians a sandwich.

“It’s not so simple,” he said. “It’s a different supply chain. It’s different partners, suppliers. We just made it national in the U.S. We want to take our time and make sure the rollout is going to be the right one.”

Fair enough. But as this explanation doesn’t give British Columbians the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich right now, it remains, unlike the sandwich itself (we’re told), a little hard to swallow.

hmooney@postmedia.com

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