Atlanta-Based Church's Chicken Tackles British Market
Cox News Service
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
LONDON — Britons' taste for roasted lamb, kidney pie, and Yorkshire pudding is giving way to a fondness for good old-fashioned, finger-lickin'-good fried chicken.
The capital is festooned with chicken outlets bearing names such as Southern Fried Chicken, Tennessee Fried Chicken, Chicken Cottage and Cut-Price Chicken, often with garish signage portraying a colorful chicken gnawing on a chicken leg.
 Church's Chicken Harsha Agadi, the CEO of Church's Chicken. The international branch of the Church's Chicken chain, which originated in Texas and is now based in Atlanta, has aggressive plans for growth in the United Kingdom.  Church's Chicken Texas Chicken, The international branch of the Church's Chicken chain, which originated in Texas and is now based in Atlanta, has aggressive plans for growth in the United Kingdom.  Church's Chicken Franchise owner Mohammed Zarif, left, and Zack Kollias, Senior VP of International for Church's Chicken, at the grand opening event at Zarif's Texas Chicken in Walthamstow (East London). |
This penchant for poultry has caught the attention of Atlanta-based Church's Chicken, which has just entered the market in the United Kingdom. The company plans to open 50 restaurants by the end of the year under its international brand name, Texas Chicken.
A new global marketing campaign rolled out by Texas Chicken in December features photos of chicken lovers — including a black family and a group of teenage boys wearing hooded jackets and baseball caps — alongside the tag line: "I know what good is."
Once all its new restaurants are open, Texas Chicken will become the UK's No. 2 fast-food chicken chain behind longtime market leader KFC.
"Currently in the U.K. there are no strong players to compete with KFC," said Harsha Agadi, CEO of Church's Chicken. "We are entering this market to grow aggressively and provide an alternative to KFC with home-style, freshly prepared fried chicken with a unique crunch."
Texas Chicken officials say that the chain's spicy chicken appeals in particular to London's black and Asian communities.
For some, it might come as a bit of a surprise to find that sales of fried chicken are climbing in a country that has seen the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver recently shame the British government into banning junk food from school menus.
But demand for all fast food is thriving in the U.K., Western Europe's biggest fast-food market with more than 38,500 outlets, according to Euromonitor International, a company that tracks product trends.
Indeed, the U.K. market for fast food ranks third globally after the United States and Japan.
According to Euromonitor, the fastest-growing sectors have been bakery products, Asian, and chicken.
The latter's growth has been driven partly by the massive expansion of KFC outlets and the growing popularity of the healthier Nando's chain, which sells flame-grilled chicken.
Helena Spice, senior leisure analyst at Mintel, a London research organization, said that the burger market in the U.K. reached nearly $5 billion in 2007, while chicken outlets were valued at nearly $2 billion.
"The latter has showed higher growth rates over the past six years," she said.
Long considered a staple in the American South, analysts say fried chicken has become increasingly popular in the U.K. because it's cheap, portable, and easily infused with other flavors.
"Also, given the multicultural makeup of many towns in this country and the fact that chicken can be eaten by any faith — and that items like jerk chicken have been adopted here through immigration — it's no surprise chicken's role in the fast-food sector has grown quickly," said Jon Wright, food service research manager at Planet Retail, a London research organization.
He said fried chicken appeals to those with lower incomes because it's perceived to be cheaper than cooking from scratch.
"There are very few chicken chains assuring a certain level of quality or taste in the U.K. marketplace, so the opportunity's definitely there for Texas Chicken," Wright said. "The company could definitely do well in the longer term, especially with its offering of spicy items that appeal to a certain section of the U.K. consumer base."
But not everyone is a fast-food fan.
Waltham Forest, one of the host London boroughs for the 2012 Olympic Games, is waging war on fast-food shops after a poll revealed residents saw them as eyesores that encourage anti-social behavior.
Borough council leader Clyde Loakes told London's Evening Standard newspaper that Waltham Forest should be "synonymous with change, progress, and achievement, not grease, chicken and litter."
Founded in San Antonio in 1952, Church's Chicken has more than 1,600 units in 19 countries with $1 billion in annual sales. It plans to expand Texas Chicken to India later this year.
The company, which has changed hands several times through the years, was purchased by Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank in 2004.
The U.K. launch is Church's Chicken's second foray into Europe. Last year the chain began opening fast-food outlets in Russia.
In order to suit local palates there, ice cream has become a staple on the menu, and the cole slaw has been made less sweet than the American version.