Food & Beverage

Tenderloins lead the way in the handheld chicken boom

Handheld chicken concepts are having a moment, or rather a movement.

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September 7, 2026 | Mountaire Farms

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Handheld chicken concepts are having a moment, or rather a movement. According to the 2026 Datassential 500, limited-service chicken concepts grew unit count 4.4% last year, the fastest pace of any restaurant segment tracked, with category sales climbing to $55.24 billion.

Tender-focused brands are driving much of that growth: Raising Cane's, built around a tight menu of chicken fingers, added 85 net units in 2025, while Dave's Hot Chicken grew units more than 34% on its way to a $1 billion investment from Roark Capital. Datassential also points to a broader tailwind behind the numbers: 66% of consumers say they are actively seeking high-protein foods, and menu mentions of protein are up 111% over the past four years. Chicken, especially in its handheld form, is where that appetite lands first.

Whole-muscle tenderloin

Inside that growth, whole-muscle tenderloin specifically is having its own surge in demand. Operators and guests alike are drawn to the cut precisely because it is what it says it is: two tenderloins per bird, no more, no less. That natural scarcity is part of what makes it valuable on a menu. It is not a cut that can be manufactured to match demand, which is exactly why chefs building around it want a source they trust.

That is the case Mountaire Farms is making with its new Mountaire® Black Label Chicken Tenderloin: each one clipped and hand-selected for premium quality by expert personnel on the Mountaire line before it reaches a case. Whole-muscle tenderloin is a natural product, and no two are exactly alike. The hallmark shape can vary slightly from bird to bird, the way it does in any cut that has not been highly process-engineered for uniformity.

Hand-selection controls for consistent quality—free from excess tendon, bruising, and muscle tears—which translates into better yields and fewer fabrication issues down the line. That's the standard operators can build on, whether cutting down into smaller snack portions or keeping the tenderloin whole for a center-of-plate feature.

That flexibility matters, because jumbo tenderloins rarely arrive on a plate exactly as they arrive in the case. Many operators split or size them down further to fit a specific recipe or portion cost, a wrap here, a salad there. Starting from a hand-selected, whole-muscle product gives kitchens a consistent quality baseline to build from, however they choose to cut it.

Tenderloins work across dayparts

The format holds up across the dayparts fueling so much of the category's growth, including:

Grab-and-go wraps and salads at lunch.
Chicken and waffles or breakfast sandwiches, as morning menus expand.
Flavor-forward fried sandwiches, tapping into demand for bold, global flavors.
Center-of-plate entrees that need a reliable protein.

What operators can count on, case after case, is that the packaging performs as well as the product. Mountaire Black Label Chicken Tenderloins ship in heat-sealed inner bags within a master liner, keeping the back-of-house tidy from delivery through the walk-in to the prep line, minimizing cleanup to manage during a busy shift. That is what premium looks like in practice: an all-natural, whole-muscle product, hand-selected and packed with care in packaging that protects it, so operators can count on a consistent quality standard for their next big thing.

See how Mountaire Black Label Chicken Tenderloins can fit into your next menu build:visit mountaireblacklabel.com/tenderloins