Fried chicken is an American delicacy and something that literally EVERYONE loves (apart from the vegetarians, of course). There's nothing quite like that scrumptious, crispy coating, crammed with salt and spices, concealing the moist, tender flesh of the bird beneath.
Fried chicken franchises offer a large selection of chicken treats, from deep-fried chicken legs and breasts to crispy thighs, wings, nuggets, and burgers. Fried chicken franchises offer delicious fast food, allowing customers to place orders at a counter and select their food for either dine-in or take-out consumption.
Many fried chicken franchises also offer drive-thru, delivery, and event catering options to maximize their business diversity and customer reach.
Crispy, juicy, crunchy fried chicken is an American favorite and has become a staple of Southern American cooking. Southern-fried chicken is traditionally served with mashed potatoes, gravy, coleslaw, and a biscuit. Delicious!
The global fried chicken market will be worth $8.25 billion by 2025, so this is a profitable sector for food lovers!
Fried chicken franchises provide entry to this hugely profitable marketplace - it’s estimated that over 175 million Americans ate fried chicken in 2019, with a projected rise to almost 180 million by 2023.
Franchising
Franchising is a unique opportunity to partner with an established business that has existing visibility in the consumer market. When new independent companies open, it takes them several years to develop a customer base and a reputation; fried chicken franchises come with a ready-to-go business model and a customer base who already know and love your menu.
One of the most vital benefits of investing in a franchise is the inheritance of instantly recognizable branding, offering instant curb appeal for your new company when it opens its doors to the public.
Franchise partners offer invaluable business support, born of the parent company’s experience in the marketplace. You receive excellent training at all levels of the business, from customer service to food preparation to manager. Most parent companies provide access to HR functionality, as well as business regulatory guidance to ensure that your new company runs in line with complex business-, food-, and employment laws.
Of course, with a fried chicken franchise, it’s the food that’s king. If your menu isn’t right, then your customers will not return. Fried chicken franchises offer a tried and tested menu; they’ve done the market research, and they understand what resonates most with your customer base. Independent startups don’t have that valuable insight and often take several years to get their menus right. In the meantime, they struggle for profits.
Fried chicken franchises also present great potential for expansion - many franchise owners run more than one business unit.
Gain instant recognition in your local town by offering a menu of delicious fried chicken that your customer base knows, loves, and is eager to get more of.
Franchising is an opportunity to benefit from:
- Recognizable branding
- A reputation for customer satisfaction
- Curb appeal
- A pre-loved menu of tried-and-tested recipes.
Facts About Fried Chicken Franchises
The earliest written recipe for what we now know as modern fried chicken was found in a British cookbook back in 1747. Hannah Glasse is attributed as the mother of modern fried chicken dishes, evidenced in her book, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.
However, it's "Colonel" Harland Sanders who revolutionized the fast-food chicken industry in the 1950s, with the brand we all know and love: Kentucky Fried Chicken (now known internationally as KFC). KFC now has 24,000 outlets across 145 countries internationally. Resultantly, KFC is one of the largest and most significant fried chicken franchises in the world.
While we consider fried chicken quintessentially North American, this delightful dish has variations all around the world. International chefs have put their own twist on fried chicken to appeal to local tastes, resulting in diverse regional alternatives.
Korean fried chicken, for example, is one of the most popular international versions of this favorite dish; twice-frying their chicken to ensure an extra-crispy coating; enjoyed with a sweet and spicy sauce.
Large fried chicken franchises offer access to an established supply chain, ensuring consistency of the menu and the best possible price on ingredients.
As well as that, fried chicken franchises have big marketing budgets that help get your new operation noticed. Most new independent companies who set up without the support of an established partner don't have money to spare to boost their market visibility.
According to the National Chicken Council, each American citizen is believed to have eaten an estimated 96.5 pounds of chicken in 2019. They also project that the amount of fried chicken will increase to a whopping 97.5 pounds per capita by 2021.
That’s a lot of chicken and testament to how much the American public loves their fried fowl!
Franchising Vs. Independent
Fried chicken franchises require an investment of at least $50,000, stretching to around $200,000. Most of us would need to apply for a startup loan to gather that type of money, which leads us to another benefit of buying into the franchise model:
Banks and moneylenders tend to favor the franchise model because the brand is established and has proven itself profitable and a viable proposition for return on investment.
Independent companies, on the other hand, often struggle to achieve the money they need to get started because they lack the experience and business acumen of established competitors. Indies find it difficult - especially in the first three years - to build a reputation among the saturated fried chicken marketplace. And that slow start often results in poor investment returns and slow profits.
Unfortunately, almost half of independent companies go bust within those problematic first three years, whereas franchisees tend to hit the ground running.
Fried chicken franchises offer the security of a tried and tested product and instantly recognizable branding, a marketing budget, and a prior reputation.
Fried Chicken Franchises
Check out Franchise Direct's fantastic selection of famous fried chicken franchise opportunities, and get feeding the American public with the delights of crispy fried chicken today!
You can also check out many more Food Franchises here on Franchise Direct, such as: