Coca-Cola will supply drinks to all 3,600 U.S. KFC restaurants, adding a large chain to its customer list.
This adds a major U.S. restaurant chain to Coca-Cola's food-service business and takes that business from a rival. The gain is limited to U.S. KFC locations; Pepsi keeps overseas KFC restaurants, and the switch will not begin until January 2027. The companies gave no financial terms, so the size of the added business is unknown.
PepsiCo loses U.S. KFC drinks as its North American soft-drink business trails the category, margins are pressured, and its 2026 profit forecast was cut. It keeps KFC overseas and Taco Bell and Subway deals, but they do not replace the U.S. account or investor pressure over North American operations.
Yum! Brands' KFC will switch U.S. drink partners as part of its comeback plan, but no deal terms or sales gains are reported. Strong rivals remain, so this supplier change alone does not show a change in Yum's prospects.
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