"Now Unbeatable" Chicken Bulpae, Last Year's Closure Rate Only 1%

Chicken Restaurant with the Highest Closure Rate for 3 Consecutive Years, Record-Breaking Boom Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Contrary to the saying "the graveyard of self-employment" and "if you open a chicken restaurant after retirement, you will fail," chicken restaurants experienced an unprecedented boom last year. With delivery food becoming a daily routine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure rate dropped to 1%, shedding the dishonor of having the highest closure rate in the dining industry (average in the 10% range). The chicken big 3 recorded their highest sales ever, continuing their record-breaking streak.

Chicken Big 3 Closure Rate Below 1%

According to the dining industry on the 16th, the closure rate of the three major domestic chicken companies (Kyochon, bhc, BBQ), which account for 20% of the entire chicken market, was about 1% compared to the number of franchise stores (4,500). This figure excludes store environment improvements and transfers. According to Seoul City's analysis of franchises in Seoul, the 3-year survival rate of dining brands is 79.4%, meaning 2 out of 10 stores disappear, but last year chicken franchises performed well. In particular, Kyochon F&B's Kyochon Chicken, the industry leader, closed only one store last year, resulting in a closure rate of just 0.08% against the total number of franchises (1,269).

Highest Sales Since Establishment

Riding the growth of the delivery food market, chicken companies recorded their highest sales since establishment last year. Kyochon and bhc joined the "400 billion won club" for the first time. Kyochon's consolidated sales last year were 447.6 billion won, an 18% increase from the previous year. Operating profit rose 4% to 41 billion won. bhc also surpassed 400 billion won in sales. Genesis BBQ's BBQ recorded sales of about 350 billion won. Franchise store sales also surged. Last year, total franchise sales of Kyochon Chicken surpassed 1 trillion won for the first time ever. The increase in franchise sales is mainly attributed to the expansion of delivery demand. Delivery sales of chicken companies increased by 20% compared to the previous year.

Chicken Specialty Store Market at 7.5 Trillion Won

Until just a few years ago, annual sales of 300 billion won were considered a "magic number" in the chicken industry. Kyochon surpassed this barrier 4 years ago, bhc in 2019, and BBQ Chicken reached this milestone last year. Thanks to the strong performance of chicken companies, the chicken market size also recorded an all-time high. Market research firm Euromonitor estimated the chicken specialty store market size at 7.474 trillion won last year. This represents a 53% growth compared to 4.8877 trillion won in 2016, five years ago. Euromonitor expects the chicken specialty store market to continue growing for more than five years.

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