Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy talks family ownership and growth

With restaurants as far away as Singapore, Chick-fil-A has expanded far beyond its southeastern stronghold in recent years, but CEO Andrew Cathy still wants the family business to stay true to its roots.

Nearly five years ago, Cathy succeeded her father, Dan, as general manager of the chicken chain founded by her grandfather, S. Truett. He took the reins as high inflation roiled the restaurant industry and a slew of new chicken rivals sought to challenge Chick-fil-A’s dominance. Since then, little has changed except for sluggish traffic across the industry as consumers have become more selective about their dining choices.

Difficult conditions led to disappointing results for McDonald’sPopeyes, KFC and other competing restaurants. While Chick-fil-A isn’t immune to these headaches, Cathy told CNBC that the chain’s restaurants haven’t seen the same downturn.

“It’s been a good year,” Atlanta-based Cathy said in downtown Manhattan ahead of a planned activation to raise awareness of the chain’s Shared Table hunger-relief program.

“Our operators have done a really good job of executing the fundamentals and adding hospitality to it,” he added.

As a private company, Chick-fil-A does not report quarterly results. However, franchise disclosures reveal that the company’s revenue in 2025 increased by 14% to $10.3 billion, while its net income increased by 1% to $1.05 billion. Its approximately 3,000 locations generated $23.92 billion in sales last year, making it the third-largest U.S. restaurant by sales, behind McDonald’s and Starbucks.

Chick-fil-A is not considering an IPO or any other outside investment opportunity. Cathy said the company plans to stick to its “calculated” and “conservative” growth.

But he may be underestimating Chick-fil-A’s recent expansion. It opened 179 restaurants last year and has expanded into international markets like Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom in recent years.

Also stay private has some upsides, especially since restaurant stocks overall have struggled this year. Actions of Mike jersey have fallen nearly 28% since its July IPO, while Dunkin’ owner Inspire Brands is not expected to go public this year unless the sector’s performance improves.

“We’re able to plan for the quarter century, and we don’t need to plan for the quarter,” Cathy said.

During Cathy’s tenure so far, Chick-fil-A has implemented bold ideas for future growth, such as a billion-dollar international expansion plan and Daybright, a new beverage-focused restaurant concept created by its venture capital arm.

But the company is trying to balance these new strategies with its existing traditions.

“I think of driving this job like driving a race car: There’s a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror,” Cathy said. “It’s important that the rear view is based on where you are, and there are things that we think about about our purpose, about our mission, that won’t change, but everything else we have to be able to evolve and change.”

Certain principles, such as remaining closed on Sundays, will never change. Others, like its restaurants’ signature Southern hospitality, will evolve as diners change their ordering and eating habits.

Cathy said Chick-fil-A takes a “human” approach to technology in its restaurants.

“We’re thinking about all these new things in the future, how will people want to receive food in the future?” he said. “When you think about drone delivery and everything that could happen, it’s a fun time in the industry, to think about all the possibilities we can do to provide a better experience for our customers.”

As Chick-fil-A explores opportunities to use artificial intelligence behind the scenes, it said its restaurants will not pursue AI voice ordering in its drive-thru lanes, unlike many of its industry competitors. McDonald’s, for example, said at its investor day in September that it planned to test Archy, its voice AI technology, to take orders in English and Spanish.

“In our experience, we really want that hospitality to be humane,” Cathy said. “We’re not going to replace that interaction with technology, because we think hospitality is so important in creating that warm environment for consumers.”

Other restaurants are also refocusing on hospitality, hoping that employees’ extra efforts will keep customers coming back. Starbucks purchased about 200,000 Sharpie markers so its baristas could write friendly messages on their customers’ coffee cups. Burger King has redefined its role as restaurant manager to become a “champion your way,” who greets diners and corrects botched orders. And starting Monday, McDonald’s will launch its “Make It Golden” training program for franchisees and employees, focusing on hospitality as well as food quality.

Chick-fil-A’s long-standing focus on service has made it the fast food restaurant leader in customer satisfaction for more than a decade, according to the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index. This reputation may also help the chain stand out from other dining options as consumers have become more discerning about how they spend their money. Mike jersey recently toppled Chick-fil-A in the 2026 study, although Chick-fil-A’s score remained unchanged from a year ago.

Another enduring element of Chick-fil-A is its famously simple menu. But the chain has even carefully expanded its offerings, usually through limited-time seasonal items like chicken and waffles or its Honey Pepper Chicken Sandwich. If a menu item is a “home run,” as Cathy calls it, then Chick-fil-A could add it permanently, like its Pineapple Dragonfruit line of drinks.

“We’re very careful about what we want to do, because we want to keep it really focused on the unique Chick-fil-A items that they can only get at Chick-fil-A,” Cathy said. “But we want to bring new flavors and new profiles, and that’s what we’ll do with a lot of our seasonal items, and we learn a lot from our customers about how to try these things.”

Other fast food chains are trying to move into Chick-fil-A territory. In 2019, Restaurant Brands International’s Popeyes started the “chicken sandwich wars” by releasing its own version. Chick-fil-A remains the dominant chicken chain in the United States, with a market share of about 43% in 2024, according to Barclays. However, the chicken sandwich helped propel Popeyes to second place, with a share of about 11 percent.

McDonald’s could reignite the battle as it prepares to test chicken strips and hand-breaded sandwiches.

But Cathy said he loves the competition.

“I’m grateful there’s competition in the chicken business because it means we’re in a good space,” Cathy said. “Competition just makes us better… What little things can we do to make this environment even more welcoming to customers?”

Chick-fil-A has also innovated outside of its restaurants.

In 2017, the company created Red Wagon Ventures, named after the vehicle Truett used to sell Coca-Cola bottles in his first entrepreneurial gamble at age 6.

“The lion’s share of our time and effort is continuing to make sure that we’re getting better and better at Chick-fil-A, but we have a small team that’s working and incubating some of these new ideas and thinking about what might be some things that might help us grow in the future,” Andrew Cathy said.

Some of these companies are based in the restaurant industry. Its experimental concept Little Blue Menu served traditional Chick-fil-A menu items as well as burgers, pizza and onion rings; the chain will convert its final location into a traditional Chick-fil-A next year. More recently, the branch opened Daybright, which serves coffee, smoothies, juice and donuts, but no chicken sandwiches or waffle fries.

Another bet from Red Wagon Ventures is even further away from Chick-fil-A. Last year, she launched Acrew Home Professionals, a home repair and maintenance company that honored Chick-fil-A ties by promoting “service with a smile,” according to its website.

“I think from a family business perspective, we need to build on our core competencies and look at other types of things that we can tackle, so that we can continue to serve our customers in unique ways,” Cathy said.

Cathy said he studies family businesses and those that have been around for over 100 years still need to think about innovation and think ahead. At 80 years old, Chick-fil-A still has a few decades before reaching the century mark.

“My grandfather was an entrepreneur at heart. He passed away at 93 and he opened a new business at 92 that he started himself,” Cathy said, referring to Truett’s Luau, a Hawaiian-themed restaurant concept that opened the same month Truett handed the reins of the family business to his son.

In addition to launching its own brands, Red Wagon Ventures will explore acquisitions of family businesses, Cathy said. These will most likely be companies without succession plans or simply looking to sell – in other words, very different from Chick-fil-A.