Mr Creedy told the annual meeting of Restaurant Brands yesterday that shareholders would be aware of the success of the most recent new product, a bun-less chicken burger.
"During the promotion, we sold over 600,000 of these products. This represents a rate that is nearly five times the rate achieved in the United States and Canada during their successful initial Double Down launches.
"We were particularly pleased with the strength of the Double Down sales, given this was achieved with a minimal amount of marketing expenditure, but with unprecedented publicity."
Unfortunately, the success of the Double Down contributed to negative Pizza Hut same-store sales growth, which came in at -15.7%. That was a concern and action was under way to address that slump, he said.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said KFC remained the key profit driver for Restaurant Brands.
"The success of the Double Down is unbelievable. It is certainly fattening the profits for the company. I don't know how they measure the effect on Pizza Hut, but they obviously can."
Also helping sales were people wanting a treat in difficult times. They felt like they still wanted to eat out and were happy to move down the "value chain", he said.
Mr Creedy hinted that Restaurant Brands would introduce Taco Bell as its fourth brand along with KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks Coffee.
While the company had not made a decision, it had conducted early discussions with Yum, the owner of the brand, and had spent time visiting Taco Bell in the US and evaluating the stores and products.
"We believe that the brand does have 'legs' in New Zealand but there is a considerable amount of work yet to do before we can make a decision to undertake a pilot in this country."
Chairman Ted van Arkel said Yum Brands was the largest fast-food retailer in the world, with nearly 38,000 restaurants in more than 110 countries.
Yum was seeing significant growth in both its KFC and Pizza Hut brands in China, India, Brazil and Russia, in particular, with a new KFC being opened every day in China last year.
Mr Creedy said the company continued to work hard to build momentum and improve efficiencies on its existing businesses, he said.
The Starbucks food range had also been instrumental in improving Starbucks sales, Mr Creedy said. Most New Zealand coffee drinkers preferred something to eat with their coffee and the new menu had tapped into that trend.
Last year's Big New Yorker pizza and Pizza Mia releases in Pizza Hut were successful and the company was evaluating some additional options, he said.
KFC also recently changed the oil used for frying from palm vegetable oil to a healthier sunflower-canola blend.
"This new oil is part of a wider approach KFC is taking to improve the nutritional content of its products where it can without sacrificing that great taste that our customers know and love."
Mr Timms said it appeared as though the management plan was starting to "come together" for Restaurant Brands after years of tinkering.
He did question whether the introduction of Taco Bell would add value or take earnings away from the existing businesses.
The company had been affected by store closures following the earthquakes in Christchurch but had still reported strong earnings for the year of $25.1 million after tax.
