Chick-fil-A Celebrates New Year with FREE Chicken Biscuits

By: Chick-fil-A | 1 Shares 102 Reads

Chain-wide promotion reminds consumers that the original Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit can be 'imitated but never duplicated'

ATLANTA, Dec. 29 // PRNewswire // -- Chick-fil-A(R) restaurants nationwide are ringing in the New Year by offering customers a free taste of the chain's signature Chick-fil-A(R) Chicken Biscuit, the menu item that first introduced quick-service customers to the concept of eating chicken for breakfast.

On Jan. 1, 2009, Chick-fil-A customers will receive an invitation for a free, made-from-scratch Chick-fil-A(R) Chicken Biscuit with any purchase. The promotion is both a celebration of the chain's signature breakfast entree and a response to competitors' recent attempts to enter the segment with their imitation chicken biscuit offerings.

"While some of our competitors are touting a trend of 'change' toward chicken as the new meat choice for breakfast, it's something our customers have known all along," said Woody Faulk, the chain's vice president of brand development and director of Chick-fil-A's menu strategy. "We pride ourselves on making our biscuits from scratch every day, not the 'homemade tasting' biscuits being advertised elsewhere. The fact is, our pioneer products will likely continue to be imitated, but they will never be duplicated. We encourage everyone to sample the original breakfast chicken biscuit as a satisfying way to start 2009!"

The Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit giveaway will be advertised during the Chick-fil-A Bowl broadcast, which airs nationally on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 31. The invitations will be distributed at participating Chick-fil-A restaurants beginning Jan. 1 (while supplies last), and can be redeemed through March 28, 2009.

With the homemade chicken biscuit that Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy developed as the chain's flagship breakfast offering, Chick-fil-A introduced its full breakfast menu in 1986 as the chain began expanding outside shopping malls and started opening stand-alone restaurants, which catered better to breakfast business. Today, breakfast accounts for approximately 17 percent of the chain's overall sales, but Chick-fil-A continues to see the morning day part as a promising opportunity to further grow the business. The original Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit remains the best-selling breakfast item.

"Breakfast has become our fastest growing day part in terms of sales-percentage increase," Faulk added. "It is an extremely habitual day part, especially during the work week. People typically travel to and from work the same way each day and they also tend to have a list of stops, such as gas stations, ATMs and other stops which they frequent during the week. We continue to see huge opportunities where Chick-fil-A can be established as part of these morning routines, but in order to do that, we have to continue to seek new and innovative menu items that will appeal to our customers. And, while others are asking their customers to 'change' their breakfast habits to include chicken, we're pleased we can say 'stay with the original' through our free chicken biscuit offer."

Over the last several years, Chick-fil-A has steadily focused on maximizing the breakfast day part with a variety of menu enhancements and promotions. In 2004, the chain began a two-phased breakfast menu expansion that included four new entrees and a premium coffee line. Looking forward to 2009, the chicken biscuit giveaway will kick off a three-month promotional campaign Chick-fil-A will leverage to heighten awareness of its breakfast offerings.

About Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, Inc. is the nation's second-largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain (based on sales), with more than 1,420 restaurants in 38 states and Washington D.C. In 2007, Chick-fil-A produced record sales of $2.64 billion -- a 16.09 percent overall increase and an 8.47 percent same-store sales gain that helped extend the chain's streak of consecutive sales gains to 40 years. In 2008, Business Week magazine included the chain in its Top 30 list of Customer Service Champs and QSR magazine identified Chick-fil-A as the "Best Drive-Thru in America" as a result of its annual quick-service Drive-Thru Performance Study.

Credited with inventing the boneless breast of chicken sandwich and first introducing the chicken nugget concept, Chick-fil-A serves nutritious and freshly prepared food products in mall locations, stand-alone restaurants, drive-thru-only restaurants, Chick-fil-A Dwarf House(R) and Truett's Grill(R) full-service restaurants, and through licensed outlets in college campuses, hospitals, airports, businesses and industrial sites.

SOURCE Chick-fil-A

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