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Chicken Franchise Opportunities

Chicken franchises have emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments in food franchising, driven by consumer preference for chicken as a protein source and innovative menu concepts. From traditional fried chicken to grilled and tender-focused brands, this category offers strong unit economics and growing demand.

§ Drawn from 22 chicken FDDs on file · latest filings

What 22 filings say

The category, read from the documents.

Not estimates — every figure below is aggregated from the disclosure documents themselves.

Total initial investment · distribution

Where 22 disclosed ranges land. Median $1,316,000.

The $1–1.5M band holds the median filing. The middle half of these brands sit between $829,000 and $2,010,000.

73%

disclose an Item 19

16 of 22 brands on file, against 73% across every brand in the database.

84

median U.S. unit count

Across the 22 brands that disclose an outlet count in their latest filing.

6%

median royalty

Across the 22 brands that state a single rate; the rest tie royalties to sales tiers or charge none.

+3.7%

median outlet change, 2025 to 2026

Across the 9 brands that filed in both years: 8 grew, 1 shrank.

Figures are drawn straight from each brand’s latest FDD. See our franchise industry reports for the trends behind these numbers.

Chicken Franchise Brands

Showing 8 of 22 chicken franchises with a published breakdown. Search all chicken brands →

Bojangles

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$2.8M–$4M

U.S. units

867

Royalty

4%

Item 19

Disclosed

Chick-fil-A

FDD 2026

Total investment

$585K–$3.5M

U.S. units

424

Royalty

10%

Item 19

Disclosed

Church's Texas Chicken

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$1.2M–$1.9M

U.S. units

885

Royalty

5%

Item 19

Disclosed

Dave's Hot Chicken

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$823K–$4.2M

U.S. units

358

Royalty

6%

Item 19

Not disclosed

KFC

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$2.1M–$4.2M

U.S. units

3,490

Royalty

5.25%

Item 19

Disclosed

Total investment

$504K–$4M

U.S. units

3,229

Royalty

5%

Item 19

Disclosed

Wingstop

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$310K–$1.1M

U.S. units

2,586

Royalty

6%

Item 19

Disclosed

Zaxby's

FDD 2025–2026

Total investment

$1.4M–$3.9M

U.S. units

1,005

Royalty

6%

Item 19

Disclosed

Past the table

Every number above has a page it comes from.

A Workspace opens the brand’s actual FDD next to its Clearly Report — every figure cited to the Item and page, questions answered from this filing only, and both years side by side when the brand has filed twice.

See a Workspace →
The ClearlyFDD Workspace showing an FDD page beside the extracted figures for a franchise brand.