Talk of Chick-fil-A’s international ambitions began to stir in March 2023 when CEO Andrew Cathy told The Wall Street Journal the U.S.’ third-highest earning restaurant chain would invest $1 billion to explore growth in Europe and Asia by 2025. Headed into last year, Chick-fil-A operated five franchised stores outside the U.S.—all in Toronto. It opened its first Puerto Rico restaurant in March 2022.

In the company’s 2021 year-end FDD it said it was “actively exploring” opportunities to continue franchise expansion in both, in addition to considering chances to scale “into other international locations.” In the past, Chick-fil-A has touted Asia as a “big prize” target.

Cathy, who began his CEO tenure in fall 2021, succeeding his father, Dan T. Cathy, after an eight-year run, told the WSJ Chick-fil-A would have units in five international markets come 2030.

On Wednesday, the company officially began one trail of that plan, announcing its first restaurant locations as part of a U.K.-wide expansion.

New sites in Belfast, Leeds, Liverpool, and London will mark the first locations outside of North America for Chick-fil-A (there are currently U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada stores).

The company said it plans to open five restaurants, both licensed and locally owned and operated models, across the U.K. in the first two years.

“Serving communities is at the heart of everything we do, and we look forward to bringing Chick-fil-A’s delicious food and signature hospitality to Belfast, Leeds, Liverpool and London, and continuing our long-term investment in the U.K.,” said Anita Costello, chief international officer at Chick-fil-A, in a statement. “From job creation to supporting local causes, we are excited about the positive impact our first restaurants will have in the communities they serve.”

Overall, the company will invest north of $100 million in just the U.K. in the coming decade. The initial expansion will create roughly 400 new jobs.

Like the U.S., the owner-operator model means nearly 80 percent of local leaders own only one restaurant at an investment of about $10,000. These owner-operators set their own benefits for employees and other ground-level practices.

Chick-fil-A added it expects to serve chicken sourced from the U.K. as well as 100 percent free-range eggs raised on farms with welfare certifications.

Back in the WSJ article, Chick-fil-A noted it would take the same approach that helped it approach 3,000 domestic locations year-end 2023 and more than $21 billion in systemwide sales.

Owner-operators split profit with Chick-fil-A after paying fees and, given their aforementioned tendency to run one location, zero in on each market and community. It’s led to a fleet of small business owners who are not passive investors. These leaders are responsible for day-to-day activities, from hiring and development to connecting with guests, cultivating relationships with local organizations, and tailoring philanthropic efforts on the store level.

“We’ve always cared about the impact of our restaurants on the local communities that we serve, and we strive to positively impact areas throughout the U.K.,” added Joanna Symonds, head of U.K. operations, in a statement. “Caring for people, while delivering great food, is at the heart of our brand, and we encourage our local Owner-Operators to partner with organizations which support their local communities.” 

Chick-fil-A is currently accepting “expressions of interest” for individuals who are interested in becoming an independent Chick-fil-A franchise owner-operator in the U.K. Licensing opportunities are available to licensed food service providers and self-operated food service providers in university campuses, airports, healthcare facilities, or business, and industry venues. 

Additionally, Chick-fil-A will donate £25,000 to a local non-profit organization for each opening. This tradition will be introduced to all U.K. locations to support local communities, Chick-fil-A said.

The stores will also have the opportunity to participate in Chick-fil-A’s Shared Table program, which redirects surplus food to local soup kitchens, shelters, food banks, and non-profits.

Last year, Shared Table helped create more than 7 million meals in the U.S. and Canada. It’s going to be introduced U.K.-wide.

As noted, Chick-fil-A ended 2023 as the third-highest sales brand in the industry despite being far smaller—unit count wise—than much of the top 10. Only McDonald’s ($53.1 billion on 13,457 restaurants) and Starbucks ($28.7 billion on 16,346 locations) earned more than Chick-fil-A ($21.59 billion on 2,552 stores) last year. And this was also being open six days a week.

The main culprit owed to AUVs. Chick-fil-A’s drive-thru locations averaged $9.275 million, up from $8.51 million the prior year and $8.142 million the year before that. The top store made $19.094 million in 2023, which was more than the average sales take of a Cheesecake Factory, Outback Steakhouse, and Cracker Barrel, combined.

As for broader sales, Chick-fil-A exited 2023 with total revenue and income of $7,888,050,586. A year ago, it was $6,373,786,108; and $5,764,153,899 in 2021. Chick-fil-A in 2022 approached the $19 billion mark in total systemwide sales as it closed with $18.815 billion (a sizable year-over-year jump from $16.674 billion the previous calendar). The brand soared past that milestone in 2023 to $21,585,752,000.

Chick-fil-A also sped up net unit growth to 141 stores. In the past two years, it was 100 and 102, respectively.

The company has tested international waters before. Per the WSJ, it left South Africa in 2001 after failing to generate enough awareness over a five-year period (Chick-fil-A was not the brand behemoth then that it is today. Nor is social media even a comparable channel overall). A U.K. mall location debuted west of London in 2019 but closed several months later.

Executives said in 2023 they expect global Chick-fil-A openings to perform similarly to those in the U.S. They’ll target countries in Asia and Europe with stable economics, dense populations, and a demand for chicken.