bhc Chicken, Explosive Growth... Franchise Average Sales Exceed 400 Million Won, '3 Times Industry Average'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Chicken franchise bhc Chicken announced on the 29th that its franchise stores' average annual sales last year were about three times higher than the industry average sales for 2018 announced by the Statistics Korea in December.

Analyzing last year's sales, bhc Chicken found that the average annual sales per franchise store were 460 million KRW. This represents a 40% increase compared to 330 million KRW in 2018, an increase of 130 million KRW in amount. Additionally, it is 2.7 times higher than the 169 million KRW sales per franchise store in the chicken industry reported by Statistics Korea in 2018.

Furthermore, the number of franchise stores with annual sales exceeding 1 billion KRW surpassed 20.

bhc Chicken explained that such a steep growth in average franchise store sales was not limited to a specific period but continued throughout the year.

According to bhc Chicken, the average monthly sales per franchise store in January last year increased by 31% compared to the same period the previous year, marking the highest record at that time. Subsequently, sales growth rates in March and April showed 38% and 49% increases respectively compared to the same periods the previous year, continuously breaking records, and maintained double-digit sales growth rates of 20-40% until December.

The industry evaluates that showing double-digit growth every month in the fiercely competitive chicken franchise sector is very unusual. Especially, considering the chicken industry’s closure rate was 10.6% (based on 2018), meaning 1 out of 10 stores closed amid ongoing recession, this growth has attracted attention.

bhc Chicken attributes this growth trend to transparent management and win-win management continuously implemented, fulfilling the inherent roles and responsibilities (R&R) between franchise headquarters and franchise stores, which increased customer trust.

The franchise headquarters develops new menus based on the latest consumer trend analysis and actively conducts advertising, publicity, and marketing, while franchise stores prepare the developed menus according to manuals and faithfully adhere to customer-focused business rules such as hygiene and customer contact hours, providing clean and delicious chicken to customers. This is cited as the secret to growth.

bhc Chicken, which releases new products more than twice a year, played a significant role in boosting franchise store sales last year by introducing differentiated menus such as ‘Gold King’, ‘Mara Kan’, and ‘Black Olive’. Additionally, last year alone, it launched five new side menus including ‘Bburin Cheese Ball’, ‘Bburin Sotteok’, and ‘Bburin Hot Dog’, leading a side menu boom in the industry and driving sales growth.

Active communication with franchise stores also contributed. bhc Chicken’s CEO Im Geum-ok and the management team toured nationwide local areas twice in May and October last year to directly listen to the honest and vivid voices of franchise business owners and immediately implemented improvements.

A bhc Chicken official said, “The driving force behind growth was building trust and credibility with consumers by faithfully fulfilling the respective roles of the franchise headquarters and franchise stores based on the principle of transparent management.” He added, “We will strive to lead the industry as a trusted company by customers and serve as a model for franchises.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.