As on of the top fried chicken chains in the US and a company that is still growing rapidly over the years, Chick-fil-A has already achieved $5.8 billion in sales, making it larger than any pizza brand to date in the country.
Chick-fil-A is the 8th largest fast food chain in the US by sales, generating enough revenue per restaurant than any other food chain across the country.
To contribute to its success, Chick-fil-A has made improvements and has added innovating ideas to help feed its growth; here are the 8 major changes the company has done in a year:
1. Opened its doors to New York City
Chick-fil-A opened its doors to Manhattan on October 3 2015 at the corner of West 37th Street and 6th Avenue. It is New York's first Chick-fil-A establishment and is one of the 88 restaurants opened across the country. It also opened in Long Island on October 7.
2. Chick-fil-A refurbished its coffee
On August of 2014, a premium-coffee line was launched by the company through a partnership with Thrive Farmers Coffee, in which revenues from sales were given to a network of family farmers in Central America. One year after the coffee launched, the company doubled it sales.
3. Table service in its restaurants
When someone eats at Chick-fil-A, they are given a plastic table marker to place on their tables after they order, an employee will then deliver the food to them, eliminating long lines in the counter. They've also added service that would refill customer's beverages or deliver items like condiments and napkins.
4. Chick-fil-A added new items to their menu.
In some select restaurants, Chick-fil-A offers a smokehouse-barbecue bacon sandwich and side of baked potato. They also launched a frosted lemonade that is available nationwide and an ice cream they call the "ice dream".
5. The company got rid of cole slaw and replaced it with a kale and broccolini salad.
The cole slaw has been in the menu for 49 years and Chick-fil-A thought it was time to change this siding. The kale and broccolini salad offers hand chopped kale and broccolini tossed in a maple-vinaigrette dressing and topped with dried sour cherries and nuts, pecans and almonds.
6. Chick-fil-A tested new sauces
New sauces including a sweet and spicy Siracha, smokehouse barbecue, garlic and herb ranch and zesty buffalo were added to designated dishes. These sauces are available in select stores in South Georgia, Florida, South Mississippi and South Alabama.
7. Chick-fil-A offered a service called Mom's Valet at some restaurants
Mom's Valet allows parents to order through the drive-thru service and at the same time dine inside the restaurant where an employee has a table ready and high chairs if needed. This is another clever idea by the company in hopes to gain more customers with young children.
8. The company supports criticized humanitarian organizations like gay-marriage
In Iowa, a Chick-fil-A restaurant donated 200 sandwiches to the city's gay-pride picnic. The company also has sights in supporting the LGBT film festival on October.