Era of 30,000 Chicken Franchises: More Outlets, Fewer Employees

More Than 6,000 Outlets Added in Six Years...
About 1,000 New Stores Each Year
Franchise Numbers Rise, but the Chicken Industry Faces Saturation

The number of chicken franchise outlets in South Korea has surpassed 30,000 for the first time ever, once again confirming the country's reputation as a "chicken republic" with concrete figures.

On December 28, Yonhap News cited the "2024 Franchise Statistics Results" from the National Data Office, reporting that as of last year, there were 31,397 chicken franchise outlets, making chicken the most prevalent franchise sector. This represents an increase of 1,592 outlets (5.3%) compared to the previous year (29,805 outlets), and more than 6,000 outlets have been added in the six years since 2018, when there were 25,110 outlets.

Looking at the annual figures, the number of chicken franchise stores has steadily increased: 25,687 in 2019, 27,303 in 2020, 28,627 in 2021, 29,348 in 2022, and 29,805 in 2023. However, the growth rate slowed from 4.8% in 2021 to 2.5% in 2022 and 1.6% in 2023, before rebounding to 5.3% last year.

By brand, BBQ had the largest number of franchise outlets. According to the Fair Trade Commission's Franchise Business Information Provision System, as of last year, BBQ had 2,316 franchise outlets, an increase of 67 from the previous year, reclaiming the top spot from BHC.

BHC had 2,228 outlets, a decrease of 48 from the previous year, dropping it to second place. Kyochon Chicken ranked third with 1,361 outlets, followed by Cheogajip Yangnyeom Chicken (1,254 outlets) and Goobne Chicken (1,154 outlets). In contrast, the number of chicken franchise brands decreased by 22 from the previous year to 647.

Last year, the total sales of chicken specialty stores reached 8.779 trillion won, a 7.3% increase from the previous year. However, the sales growth rate was lower than that of coffee and non-alcoholic beverages (12.8%), Korean cuisine (10.0%), and pizza and hamburgers (9.2%). The average sales per franchise outlet rose by only 1.9% to 279.6 million won.

The number of employees actually declined. The number of employees at franchise chicken specialty stores was 65,373, a 2.4% decrease from the previous year, and the average number of employees per outlet was 2.1, the lowest among foodservice franchises. The industry explains that this is because many outlets are operated as small-scale businesses centered around couples.

Although the number of franchise outlets is increasing, analysts say that the overall chicken industry has already reached a saturation point. In fact, the total number of chicken specialty stores nationwide, including both franchise and independent outlets, was 39,789 as of 2023, about 3,000 fewer than in 2020 (42,743 outlets). Among the major brands, both BHC and Kyochon Chicken saw a decrease in the number of outlets last year.