After Nearly 40 Years, KFC Is Ditching Pepsi for Coca-Cola
The cola wars just claimed a significant casualty for PepsiCo. KFC announced Thursday that it will replace Pepsi products with Coca-Cola across all of its roughly 3,700 U.S. restaurants, ending a beverage partnership that has lasted nearly four decades.
The transition begins in January 2027, with Coca-Cola products expected to be available at all U.S. KFC locations by spring. It marks the first time in the chain’s American history that customers will order a Coke with their bucket — rather than a Pepsi.
How The Pepsi Relationship Started
The history here goes back to 1986, when PepsiCo actually acquired KFC, making the beverage partnership essentially internal. When PepsiCo spun off its restaurant holdings in 1997 — creating what became Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut — the beverage arrangement continued under contract. For decades after the corporate separation, Pepsi kept supplying KFC’s U.S. restaurants even though the ownership link was gone. Now that relationship is officially over.
PepsiCo isn’t entirely losing the Yum! Brands relationship. The company recently renewed agreements covering Taco Bell and KFC’s international restaurant locations — so Pepsi will still be flowing in those markets. It’s specifically the U.S. KFC business that is switching sides.
Why KFC Is Making The Move
KFC framed the switch as part of a broader turnaround effort. The chain has been working to modernize its U.S. operations and attract customers back to domestic locations, which have faced headwinds in recent years.
“A new beverage offering, with a new partner in Coca-Cola, gives us a platform to innovate, meet changing tastes and give customers more reasons to choose us,” said KFC U.S. president Tarun Tan-Gillespie in a statement announcing the deal.
The arrangement also gives KFC access to Coca-Cola’s drink development team — a resource the chain sees as an asset for menu innovation beyond standard fountain options.
What Disappears, What Arrives
For regular KFC customers, the practical changes will be visible at the fountain. Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Starry, and Aquafina are expected to give way to Coca-Cola’s standard lineup — which typically includes Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, Sprite, and Dasani water.
One notable casualty: Mountain Dew Sweet Lightning, the peach-and-honey flavored soda that KFC developed exclusively with PepsiCo in 2019 and positioned as a signature beverage designed to pair specifically with the chain’s fried chicken. It will be phased out as the transition completes in spring 2027 — a small but real loss for fans of the distinctive drink.
Coca-Cola’s Winning Streak
For Coca-Cola, this is another significant fountain account added to a growing list of wins in the restaurant beverage wars. In recent years the company has flipped Culver’s, Arby’s, and Panda Express away from PepsiCo. Adding KFC’s 3,700 U.S. locations represents a meaningful expansion of Coca-Cola’s foodservice footprint.
The broader rivalry between the two companies has been shifting. Pepsi poached Subway in 2024, adding roughly 20,000 locations to its fountain network. But KFC is a major counterpunch — a globally recognized brand with high-volume locations where fountain drinks are a staple of nearly every order.
“This exciting new partnership brings Coca-Cola and KFC together across the U.S. for the first time,” said Dagmar Boggs, Coca-Cola’s president of foodservice and on-premise for North America.
For the first time — at least in America. KFC has already been serving Coca-Cola in international markets including Indonesia and Malaysia. The domestic holdout is finally ending.
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