Chester's International

What Chester's International does

Chester's International, LLC is a third-generation, family-owned (Giles family) quick-service restaurant franchise company founded in 1952 in Montgomery, Alabama, and currently headquartered in Mountain Brook (Birmingham metro), Alabama. The company franchises a fried chicken concept built on a proprietary double-breaded, fresh-never-frozen marinated chicken recipe originating from founder W.O. Giles' patented fryers. The core product platform centers on bone-in chicken, tenders, chicken sandwiches, chicken bites, and sides, all fried in soybean oil. The company operates exclusively through a franchise model (100% franchised), targeting non-traditional venues—primarily convenience stores, truck stops, travel plazas, supermarkets, and college campuses—rather than freestanding restaurant locations. As of the latest reporting period, the system spans 1,300+ franchised and licensed locations across the United States and Canada, generating $393.7M in global systemwide sales with 12.7% year-over-year sales growth.

Chester's commercializes its brand through initial franchise fees and ongoing royalties, with franchise investment ranging from $27,500 to $296,500 per unit. The company supports franchisees via Territory Performance Managers, Regional Trainers, a 4.5-day opening training program, three annual promotional periods, and equipment financing facilitated through Ascentium Capital. Its Chester's 2.0 merchandising and cooking platform, introduced in 2025, is engineered for convenience store environments with faster cook times and longer hold windows. Revenue streams to the franchisor include one-time franchise fees, recurring royalties, and product/marginal supply sales to the franchisee base. Customer end-markets are convenience retail and travel foodservice, where foodservice accounts for 25–35% of in-store sales at many c-stores and the broader c-store foodservice market is projected to reach $54.7B by 2027.

The brand is supported by trade recognition including Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 (2023–2025) and Franchise Times Top 400 (#174, up from #203). Ownership remains under the Giles family with Wynn Giles as the third-generation owner (since 2017), and no institutional, private equity, or parent company ownership is disclosed. The company has no subsidiaries, no disclosed funding rounds, and no M&A activity on record. Recent strategic activity centers on supply chain modernization (Bill Rice hired as EVP in January 2024), aggressive limited-time menu expansion (wings, value menu, bourbon bites, Nashville Hot), and ongoing system-level unit and sales growth.

Name

Chester's International

Legal name

Chester's International, LLC

Website

https://chesterschicken.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1952

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Chester's International is a third-generation family-owned QSR franchise company that licenses its proprietary double-breaded fried chicken brand exclusively to convenience stores, truck stops, travel plazas, supermarkets, and college campuses across the US and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Quick-Service Restaurant Franchise

NAICS

Other Food Manufacturing (3119)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Poultry Shops (CRAHAHAD)

Keywords

• Fried chicken franchise
• Quick-service restaurant
• Convenience store foodservice
• Chicken QSR
• Non-traditional franchise

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Franchise Fees & Royalty Revenue: Chester's generates revenue by franchising its brand and business model to independent operators. Franchisees pay an initial investment (Investment Range: $27,500–$296,500; Initial Investment: $12,000–$50,000) to open a Chester's location, and likely pay ongoing royalty or royalty fees based on sales. The model is 100% franchised.
2. Food Product Sales to Franchisees: Chester's supplies franchisees with proprietary products, ingredients, and menu components, generating revenue through product sales to its network of over 1,300 franchised and licensed locations across the US and Canada.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Chester's International is a 100% franchised quick-service restaurant brand specializing in fresh, never-frozen, marinated double-breaded fried chicken prepared in soybean oil. The company licenses its brand, recipes, proprietary products, and the Chester's 2.0 cooking and merchandising system to operators who run store-in-store Chester's locations inside convenience stores, truck stops, travel plazas, supermarkets, and college campuses across the US and Canada.

Product overview

Chester's International operates a quick-service restaurant (QSR) franchise concept centered on fresh, never-frozen, marinated double-breaded fried chicken. The core product is the Chester's Chicken Menu featuring bone-in chicken, jumbo tenders, chicken sandwiches, chicken bites, and sides including potato wedges, biscuits, homestyle sides, and fried pies. The business model centers on a franchise program targeting convenience stores, travel centers, colleges, universities, and supermarkets, with flexible in-store layouts and the Chester's 2.0 innovative equipment system. Supporting the franchise operation are the Chester's Club loyalty program, a financing program through Ascentium Capital, and seasonal limited-time offerings such as the 5 Buk Box value menu, Nashville Hot promotion, Kentucky Bourbon Bites, and Bone-In Wings. The company has grown to over 1,300 franchised and licensed locations across the US and Canada.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chester's Chicken Menu Core QSR fried chicken menu served at Chester's franchise locations: fresh, never-frozen, marinated double-breaded chicken items including bone-in chicken, jumbo tenders, chicken sandwiches, chicken bites, livers and gizzards, sides such as potato wedges, biscuits, homestyle sides, and fried pies, prepared in soybean oil. Sold to end consumers through 1,300+ franchised locations across the US and Canada.
• Franchise Program Franchise opportunity sold to convenience store, travel center, college/university, and supermarket operators. Investment range $27,500–$296,500 (initial investment $12,000–$50,000) for a multi-year franchise agreement. Franchisees receive the Chester's brand, proprietary recipes and ingredients, Chester's 2.0 cooking/merchandising system, a 4.5-day opening training week, ongoing field support from Territory Performance Managers and Regional Trainers, three annual promotional periods, grand opening assistance, custom local store marketing plans, and access to the Franchise Resource Center portal. Equipment financing available through Ascentium Capital.
• Frozen Marinated Breast Chunks Frozen, pre-marinated breast chunks supplied to convenience store operators for in-store preparation. Designed for high-volume c-store environments with a strong flavor profile and convenient preparation workflow. Recognized with Bronze placement in the CStore Decisions 2024 Hot New Products Contest.

Quantifiable outcome

• Foodservice accounts for over 25% to 35% of in-store sales in many convenience stores with hot food programs.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Krispy Krunchy Foods: Krispy Krunchy is the closest direct competitor to Chester's — both are chicken-focused foodservice programs sold exclusively into convenience stores, truck stops, and travel plazas via a franchise or licensed model with a comparable store-in-store footprint.
• Golden Chick: Golden Chick is a chicken-focused franchise QSR with a meaningful c-store and non-traditional venue presence, competing for the same convenience-store operator accounts that Chester's targets.

Broad incumbents

• Church's Chicken: Church's is a large, established chicken QSR franchise system competing in the broader fried-chicken category; while it operates primarily standalone restaurants, its brand presence and menu sets the consumer expectation Chester's competes against.
• Zaxby's: Zaxby's is a sizeable chicken-tenders-focused franchise QSR with broad Southeast U.S. presence; it competes indirectly with Chester's in the fried chicken category and in franchisee-recruitment attention from multi-unit operators.
• Bojangles: Bojangles is a chicken-and-biscuits-focused franchise QSR concentrated in the Southeast; it competes with Chester's for regional chicken-category share and for franchisee capital within overlapping geographies.
• Raising Cane's: Raising Cane's is one of the fastest-growing chicken-tender franchise QSRs in the U.S. and competes with Chester's for both chicken-category share and franchisee-recognition momentum across national Franchise 500 rankings.
• Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen: Popeyes is a major international chicken QSR brand operated by Restaurant Brands International; it competes with Chester's on brand visibility, menu innovation, and franchisee recruitment in the chicken category.
• KFC: KFC is the largest fried-chicken QSR globally (operated by Yum! Brands) and sets the dominant brand standard for chicken category awareness against which Chester's competes for cross-channel consumer relevance.
• Wingstop: Wingstop is a chicken-wing-focused franchise QSR with a strong franchised model; it is comparable to Chester's in operating a high-growth franchise business in the chicken category and overlapping with several of Chester's newer menu extensions (bone-in wings).

Emerging players

• Dave's Hot Chicken: Dave's Hot Chicken is a rapidly expanding Nashville-hot-chicken franchise emerging as a notable competitor in the limited-service chicken QSR category and an emerging presence on Franchise 500 rankings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/chesters-international-198330606879954
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chester's-international
• Instagraminstagram.com/chestersintl
• TikToktiktok.com/@chestersintl
• Xx.com/chestersintl

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chester's International