Disrupting the Fried Chicken Space — Faith-Based, No Seed Oil QSR Concept Built on Proven Hospitality Model
I’m a former restaurant owner and Food Network Chopped winning chef based in Brooklyn. For the past five years I’ve worked for Chick-fil-A, where it’s become increasingly clear to me that even the top player in this space has grown complacent — and my wife and I are currently building a tallow-fried Korean chicken brand that aims to innovate on the current model and product offerings in the market.
The key aspect of a hospitality business that Chick-fil-A does better than the competition is employee engagement and retention. They do this through their unique franchisee selection process which selects 100-150 new operators every year who receive a store that will gross on average $7m-$10m a year for only a $10k franchise fee. As most CFA employees are eligible, everyone works very hard for a shot at this process - in comparison there is essentially 0 possibility at other QSR companies for front line workers to become millionaires one day. The only other chain that seems to have caught on to the effectiveness of this program seems to be Steak and Shake's majority shareholder Sardar Biglari who recently implemented a similar program.
Unfortunately Operators have become somewhat of a frat house and the process is heavily favored towards friends and family of existing Operators. CFA insiders are already catching on and I have seen some very eligible candidates be denied or simply leave CFA - further signaling that the effective of this program will be diluted in the future. Legacy QSR brands across the board are seeing sales stagnate or decline. There is clearly a demand (especially gen-z) that want something new and healthier - we feel the market has great opportunity for disruption.
Our concept builds:
- Tallow-fried, Korean-inspired chicken with new flavors and clean ingredients committed to no-seed oils at a competitive price point.
- Faith-based and community-driven culture, rooted in hospitality and family-focused.
- Scalable operator model that rewards performance and builds ownership pathways for team members.
We recently debuted our food as a sponsor at New York Fashion Week, where we received overwhelmingly positive feedback — both on flavor and the brand’s mission.
I’d love to connect with professionals who have experience in hospitality, private equity, or venture interested in this space. Are there firms or angel networks particularly focused on early-stage concepts in the QSR food space?
Goodluck competing with canes. they do fried chicken better than anyone
Thank you for your reply - do you think there is a compelling market for no seed oil fried chicken? Currently there is no one in this space.
respectfully. if I am eating fried chicken then I have already signed up to put shit in my body and could care less if it is fried in pure beef tallow or fryer grease that hasn't been cleaned in weeks and is the mst unhealthy thing on gods green earth. as long as that shit is good then im in. nobody is looking to be health conscious when eating fried chicken, if they were then they wouldn't be eating fried chicken
Im all for it dude when our generation grows up the antiseed oil demand in restaurants will be significantly higher and the main players will be late to the game
Thank you - that is encouraging
Chat GPT:
• Chicken is fried in fully refined peanut oil. Chick-fil-A+1
• Waffle Potato Fries (and similar sides) are cooked in canola oil. Chick-fil-A+2Chick-fil-A+2
Current evidence doesn’t support the claim that seed/vegetable oils (like canola or soybean, rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats) are inherently harmful. Major public-health and cardiology sources note these oils can be part of a heart-healthy diet—especially when they replace saturated fats. PMC+3www.heart.org+3Harvard Public Health+3
Helpful context:
If you’re trying to minimize seed oils at Chick-fil-A, you can choose non-fried items and go light on sauces (many sauces use vegetable oils). But from a health standpoint, seed oils themselves aren’t the villain—excess calories and ultra-processed patterns are the bigger issue.
I like your concept, but feel you would have to spend a lot of money on advertising to educate the consumer with the only exception being if your product took off with strong word of mouth advertising. Good luck and congrats on being Chopped champion. I am a big foody and respect people in the culinary industry. My friend Matt Pace actually beat Bobby Flay on the show, which was great to see.
Thank you for your feedback - I agree with you and that's a great idea - we make content over @chefyunha on IG but haven't yet focused on seed oil per se - I am seeing some adoption by bigger companies like Lay's that recently announced they will be making chips fried in olive and avocado oil - I do think we are early but demand will grow (i.e. gluten-free, vegan, keto). I think the use of hexane and chemical bleach in the production of seed oil is a concern to some folks - it also is more unstable and oxidizes quicker than say tallow or avocado oil which causes inflammation and can catalyze the absorption of negative free radicals.
That being said I am also further educating myself on this topic - I have observed a growing trend of guests at CFA opt out of sauces on their order to avoid soybean oil. There is somewhat of a bifurcated lunch market at least in NYC - CFA, Cane's, fast food (i.e. students, service workers) vs Cava, Naya, Chipotle, Sweet Green (i.e. white-collar workers, health conscious consumers), and I haven't really seen anyone in the fried chicken category truly break in to the latter market (CFA does in the South but less in the NE). So this is where we are trying to position ourselves. Again thank you for taking the time to respond - your feedback is very valuable.
Where can I try your chicken?
I'm a chicken lover always looking for new options. I also happen to be a thematic investor (small checks) and food is the type of industry that spreads love and kindness, which is my theme.
What a coincidence that I've recently been making lot of fried chicken at home. I use olive oil but I experiment a lot with batter. I use lot of gourmet ingredients but it's like $2-4 per meal for me if I consider value of my time to be $0. Even learned that double battering is a quite nice trick for moist on the inside, crispy on the outside. I happen to think it's possible if it gets scaled out, you can keep it $2-4 per meal even including someone's time.
Couple questions:
I have noticed that the fried chicken space in the US, despite its size, is not super variegated. There's always room for a differentiated product experiences. I think there's plenty of opportunity for what happened in the cereal and soda spaces (lot of large niche brands popping up to a point they're sold in local convenience stores in NYC now instead of just whole foods or trader joe's) to happen in Fried chicken.
But ofc, really would have to try your chicken first.
Thank you for your interest - I have sent you a direct message!
Wishing you and your wife best of luck — might attract a certain type of people (like me). I will generally go out of my way to make a cheap meal rather than eat KFC shit because I’m aware of the aftereffects. With that said, not every fried chicken consumer is rational enough or remotely cares about the aftereffects. Wouldn’t say this would specifically attract me unless I see it wouldn’t cause me to feel disgusting after. You’ll find that people associate health not necessarily with what the label says or what it’s cooked in (in your case), but with how it makes them feel after. For many, fried chicken is fried chicken, so no matter what oil it’s cooked in, it’s still seeping through the meat when you eat it. Just food for thought (literally)
Thank you - that's a great point - I agree with you our household also avoid eating fried chicken because we have had so many bad experiences of feeling like crap afterwards - especially with the chains. CFA does a better job with freshness but this is more a result of their superior employee engagement than use of higher quality ingredients - quite frankly even their "buttered" bun have transitioned to a soybean oil based product with no actual butter. Our product is ultimately just chicken meat and beef fat with a light coater that's also only 20% wheat flour (we use a mix of rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch). Something I proudly serve to our own family and genuinely leaves you feeling clean and satisfied - but also doesn't compromise on taste. I have gotten this feedback from some of our friends as well so definitely over time hope to build a reputation as "fried chicken that leaves you feeling good."
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