KFC plans first ever value menu launch next week

The value menu, which will be backed by national advertising, precedes a second initiative at KFC to introduce a line of grilled chicken products starting in April to complement the traditional fried chicken that gives the chain its name.

Yum hopes to give a lift to its U.S. KFC business, whose performance has trailed that of the fast-food giant's other brands Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. In Yum's fiscal fourth-quarter, KFC's same-store sales fell 3% in the U.S., compared to an 8% increase at Taco Bell and a 1% decline in Pizza Hut.

"KFC was our only underperforming business in 2008 and we have a lot of wood yet to chop,"Yum Chief Executive David Novak said during its earnings conference call. "But given all we have planned, we are confident our performance will start to steadily improve, beginning in the second quarter."