# Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders 'Carl's Jr.' and 'Hardee's Debut Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Bites By Colin Smith | Published 2021-11-15 | Lifestyle Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/handbreaded-chicken-tender References: [brandeating](https://www.brandeating.com/2021/11/carls-jr-and-hardees-tests-new-hand-breaded-chicken-tender-bites.html) & [carlsjr](https://www.carlsjr.com/menu/chicken)  '[Carl's Jr.](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/el-diablo-handbreaded-chicken-tender-wrap)' and '[Hardee's](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/handbreaded-chicken-tender-wraps)' are bringing premium food practices to the fast food market once again with their new hand-breaded chicken tender bites. These chicken tender bites will similar to other 'Carl's Jr.' hand-breaded chicken products, but they will be premium competitors to [chicken nugget products](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/krystal-chicken-nuggets). The new chicken tender bites are real white meat chicken that will be tossed fresh daily, by hand, and lightly fried for a perfectly crisp chicken bite. The hand-breaded chicken tender bites will be available for a limited time in various locations across the United States. They will be available to order in packs of 6, 12, and 24. The price is comparable to regular chicken nuggets at other common fast-food chains, so it will be interesting to see how popular the hand-breaded, premium alternative performs in this testing phase. Image Credit: Carl's Jr., Hardee's ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 5.0/10 - Popularity: 53% | Activity: 87% | Freshness: 11% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Gen Z, Gen Alpha, Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Lifestyle](https://www.trendhunter.com/lifestyle) > [Food](https://www.trendhunter.com/food) ## Key Themes ### Why This Trend Is Growing - **Premium Fast Food:** The trend of offering premium quality fast food is growing. - **Hand-breaded Chicken:** There is a trend of offering hand-breaded chicken items in fast food menus. - **Alternative to Chicken Nuggets:** The trend of introducing alternatives to chicken nuggets is becoming more popular among fast food chains. ### Industries Being Reshaped - **Fast Food:** Fast food industry has a disruptive innovation opportunity to offer high quality premium options to their menus. - **Poultry:** Poultry industry has a disruptive innovation opportunity to expand their products to fast food chains that are looking for alternative chicken products. - **Food Service Equipment:** Food service equipment industry has a disruptive innovation opportunity to develop innovative machines that can help fast food chains to prepare hand-breaded chicken items faster and more efficiently. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Hand-Breaded Chicken QSR Wraps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/handbreaded-chicken-tender-wraps.md) - [High-Quality Chicken Bites](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/huey-magoos-tender-bites.md) - [Extra-Juicy QSR Chicken Tenders](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/handbreaded-chicken-tenders.md) - [Double-Breaded Chicken Tenders](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/super-tenders.md) - [Hand-Breaded Chicken Bites](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bo-bites.md) - [Spicy Chicken Tender Wraps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/nashville-hot-tender-chicken-wraps.md) - [Snacking-Friendly Chicken Bites](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/grilled-tender-bites.md) - [Fan-Influenced Chicken Tenders](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/wendys-tendys.md) - [Habanero Chicken Tender Wraps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/el-diablo-handbreaded-chicken-tender-wrap.md)