Church's Chicken® Continues Making Steady Gains Toward Leading the Chicken QSR Category

    ATLANTA, GA, October 08, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The global chicken restaurant brand, Church's Chicken®, kicked off its annual Excellence in Leadership Conference (ELC) in Houston this week, coming in strong after last year's call to action. Themed around "Working Together," one of the company's core values, the audience was appropriate given the announcement of the brand's best global performance in years, signaling that Church's Chicken is back and ready to make a play for lead status in the category. In early 2019, the company's Chief Executive Officer, Joe Christina, laid out a road map for bringing the brand back to leadership status. Renewed focus on streamlined operations, updating the brand and its restaurants, and making a stand for quality food and innovative chicken offerings were just a few of the top priorities for the year.

"Right now, we're stronger than ever because, quite frankly, we show we care," Christina announced to the crowd of over 400 attendees comprised of managers, franchisees, and corporate team members. "We're leading the way with an abundance of flavor at an affordable price. By offering a variety of value for every appetite, and for every budget, we are Staking Our Claim as the leaders in value for the price paid. We're driving sales, and our guests are extremely satisfied."

Christina then shared some powerful results the brand has turned in over the past 12 months, many of which are recognized as key drivers for QSR success, such as:
- Increases in overall guest satisfaction, speed of service, and likelihood to return.
- Tremendous guest response to innovative menu items like Bourbon Black Pepper Smokehouse Chicken, Flamin' Honey MegaBites™, and peach cobbler.
- Gains in both new guests and repeat visits system wide.
- Increase in average check size per guest.

Other huge wins for the brand in 2019 thus far were also highlighted by Christina, including:
- The STAR reimage program, which has updated and renovated nearly 40 percent of the system since 2015, will be complete system-wide by 2021.
- National home delivery with Church's To Go – now offered by 800 restaurants.
- A new brand relaunch and return to national TV advertising with 6 weeks of ads that outscored the category and QSR industry competitors.
- Growth on pace to open 100 international restaurants per year starting in 2021 – upping the total global system size to 2,000 restaurants in the near future.

After thanking everyone in attendance, including vendors, agencies, franchisees, and the Church's Independent Franchise Association, for coming together to make these achievements possible, Christina then issued his challenge for the rest of this year and into 2020. "We have Staked Our Claim to the things we do best – real meals made by real people with the bold spirit of Texas," he said. "Showing we care about teamwork and succeeding together has allowed us to get things done more quickly, invest more wisely and more effectively, and to drive sales and profits into our restaurants at record levels. Now – it's time to Stake Our Claim towards being the top brand for both guests and franchisees when it comes to leadership in the QSR chicken category."

About Church's Chicken®
Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken® is one of the largest quick service restaurant chicken chains in the world. Church's® specializes in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips®, Honey-Butter Biscuits™ made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's® (along with its sister brand Texas Chicken® outside the Americas) has more than 1,500 locations in 25 countries and international territories and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church's® on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken.

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