The hen franchise wars are getting further crispy. Hen chain gross sales grew 5.3% in 2025, in contrast with 3% for the restaurant trade total and 1.5% for burger chains, in response to Technomic information cited by Restaurant Enterprise. Elevating Cane’s, Dave’s Scorching Hen and Wingstop have all helped gas the fowl.
Now McDonald’s needs in. The Golden Arches’ new $8.5 billion modernization plan features a objective of gaining 1.5 factors of hen market share by 2030. It’s already testing hand-breaded hen within the U.S. and Eire.
Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy, whose chain leads the class, says he welcomes the stress. “I really like competitors. It simply makes us higher,” the previous highschool coach tells Restaurant Enterprise.
Nonetheless, Cathy says his greatest fear is shifting too slowly. To maintain from getting comfy, he needs his workforce to have a “wholesome dose of concern.” His plan for staying on high is to stay to fundamentals like correct orders, good meals and heat hospitality. That’s one cause Chick-fil-A has no plans to interchange human order takers with AI.
