Leading the charge into metro Atlanta for El Pollo Loco are Chris Elliott, chief executive of Atlanta-based Fiesta Brands, El Pollo Loco’s partner, and his business associate, Joe Uhl. Elliott is a former chief operating officer of Church’s Chicken and former president of Cinnabon. Uhl, also formerly of Cinnabon, and Elliott created Fiesta Brands to specifically franchise the Atlanta market for El Pollo Loco.

Asked if he and Uhl ruffled any feathers by bringing winged competition to his former employer, Elliott replied that El Pollo Loco and Church’s do not play in the same arena.

“Church’s is a value-based brand. They are after the consumer seeking great value,” he says. “Bojangles is a good company, but what they do is different. It’s spicy fried chicken. Popeyes should be more concerned.”

Farnaz Wallace, chief marketing officer for Church’s Chicken (San Antonio, Texas), echoed similar sentiments regarding El Pollo Loco’s and Bojangles’ expansion into Georgia.

“Bojangles may be considered a direct competition in fried chicken. However, its development strategy is to locate in ex-urban, fringe counties outside our core, urban neighborhood locations,” she says.

Wallace noted that Bojangles estimates that 40 percent of their business comes from their breakfast menu, adding that they “are neither the fried chicken specialist that Church’s is nor do they have the clear winning differentiations that we do.”

While El Pollo Loco is a strong, indirect competitor, Wallace says Church’s successfully competes in many shared Latino trade areas.

“However, each brand satisfies a different need with clearly two different value propositions,” she says. “Our authentic fried chicken—spicy and original—made-from-scratch honey butter biscuits and signature sides, including fried okra, are unique specialties of Church’s.”

Elliott added that Fiesta Brands would not have arbitrarily brought another fried chicken restaurant chain to Atlanta, saying the city and the metro region were natural choices because quick-serves flourish there. “Atlanta has a lot of disposable income, and it’s growing rapidly,” he says. “The propensity is to eat out is higher and the cost of living is lower.”

Other quick-serve chicken chains say they don’t expect a fight to erupt over increased competition.

“We’re proud to serve hundreds of thousands of loyal customers in the Atlanta area. Colonel Sanders never had a problem going head-to-head with the competition, and we don't have a problem with it today,” says Rick Maynard, a spokesman for Kentucky Fried Chicken, which also operates stores in the market.

Alicia Thompson, vice president of communications and public relations for Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits, says her Atlanta-based chain welcomes the competition.

“We are continuing our emphasis on new product and market development,” she says. “We are always looking at new products that appeal to both existing and new consumers and we feel confident that our flavor profile will match up with the newcomers.”