Chick-fil-A built America’s third-largest restaurant chain on a chicken sandwich, family ownership, and Sunday rest, and CEO Andrew Cathy says that formula is not for sale.
Nearly $24 billion in sales last year put the private chain behind only McDonald’s and Starbucks in the United States. It now runs around 3,000 locations worldwide, with recent openings in the United Kingdom and Singapore.
CEO Andrew Cathy, who took the job in 2021, is the grandson of founder Truett Cathy and the son of Dan Cathy. In a recent interview for NBC News’ Business in America series, he said the company intends to stay family-owned and keep the practices that defined it from the start.
The story begins in Hapeville, Georgia. After World War II, Truett Cathy and his brother Ben wanted a better life than the one Truett had known.
Andrew Cathy described that hard start this way:
"My grandfather grew up in extreme poverty. He actually lived in the first government housing in the state of Georgia, and after the war, he decided to start a business with his brother Ben. And they’re like, ‘We want a better life for ourselves.’"
In 1946 the brothers opened the Dwarf Grill. A local supplier later offered large chicken breasts that Delta Air Lines had rejected. Truett turned them into the sandwich that would carry the brand.
The first Chick-fil-A restaurant opened in 1967. The signature sandwich recipe has not changed.
“It’s still the same recipe that we’ve had since 1967,” Andrew Cathy said. “It’s a lot of good things. Can’t tell you the details.”
From the beginning, the Cathys kept the restaurants shut on Sunday. Andrew Cathy said that choice was ordinary in the 1940s and personal for his family.
"It was very common back in the 1940s that a lot of places were closed on Sunday. They wanted to do that. They wanted to have a chance to take a break, go to church and for others just to take some rest."
That policy still holds at every location. The company’s stated mission is to “Glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”
For 60 years the business has stayed private and in family hands. Andrew Cathy said that will continue.
In 2012, Dan Cathy told a religious newspaper that the family supported “the biblical definition of the family unit.” Protests and boycotts followed across the country. Supporters answered with counter-rallies and “buycotts.”
On Aug. 1, 2012, customers turned “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” into a record-setting show of support. Two years later, Dan Cathy said he regretted pulling the company into the public fight, while standing by his private views on marriage.
The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. Chick-fil-A kept serving customers and did not reopen on Sundays.
Andrew Cathy framed the company’s posture simply:
"We’ve always been focused on serving great food and hospitality, and so for anybody that comes in the door, we’re going to continue to do that."
For years the company donated millions of dollars to Christian organizations. LGBTQ advocates criticized those gifts. Starting in 2020, Chick-fil-A narrowed its giving to education, homelessness, and hunger.
It also runs Shared Table, which sends extra food to local nonprofits. The company says the program has provided more than 200 million meals since 2020.
Dining out has cooled for millions of Americans this year. Consumer prices have risen 3.4 percent while wages have grown just 3 percent on average. Guests notice every dollar.
At one Dallas Chick-fil-A, the standard chicken sandwich ran $4.99. Less than a mile away, a McDonald’s McCrispy was $3.99. Cathy did not pretend costs are flat.
"Even though our costs are going up, we’ve got to be careful knowing that consumers are making that trade-off. What we want more than anything is if customers do choose to eat with us, they feel like ‘Man, I got a great value for what I paid for this experience.’"
The bet remains the same one Truett made with a rejected chicken breast: keep the food consistent, keep the doors closed one day a week, and keep the business in the family.
A company that refuses to trade its convictions for cultural applause can still outgrow almost everyone else in the business, and leave the Sunday parking lot empty on purpose.