BBQ, a popular South Korean fried chicken franchise, has opened its first store in the northern region of Michigan. The fried chicken brand, which operates some 250 stores in 24 states in the United States, aims to open 50,000 affiliated stores all over the world.
BBQ, operated by Genesis BBQ, was launched in 1995 and became the iconic fried chicken franchise in South Korea. Compared to chicken menus made by foreign brands including KFC or Popeye’s, most BBQ menus are less oily. As of December 2021, BBQ had some 1,600 franchise stores across South Korea. The second-largest chicken brand BHC had about 1,510 stores.
Genesis BBQ said in a statement on June 8 that the company opened its first store in Troy, Michigan. The company said the 277.6 square meter-wide store is located near a college and a large-scale mall. “The opening of the first store in Michigan shows that BBQ is growing exponentially,” Genesis BBQ Chairman Yoon Hong-geun was quoted as saying.
In August 2022, BBQ partnered with KT, a major telecom operator in South Korea, to accelerate the digital transformation of the fried chicken franchise through artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. AI technology would be used to enable the telecom company’s voice assistant speakers to receive BBQ chicken delivery orders. BBQ could adopt KT’s autonomous serving robots to its stores.
Korean-style fried chicken is the favorite soul food of South Koreans. A 2014 survey of 1,000 people showed that 77.7 percent picked deep-fried chicken pieces smothered in a red, sweet, and hot sauce as their favorite night snack.
Source: Aju Business Daily
