Why We're Using Smaller Chickens for Sandwiches

“Quality is Our Recipe” is more than a slogan hanging on the wall of our restaurants. It’s a constant commitment to improve the quality of our menu and make our customers really happy and crave the food we craft.

So, it should come as no surprise that we’re always innovating and tinkering in our kitchen (aka the Brolick Innovation Center), and in partnership with our suppliers, because we’re on a journey to constantly improve our products.  Recently, you may have noticed that we made headlines about a move to “smaller birds” to improve taste and quality in our chicken sandwiches.  If you want more detail, you can read the news release or check out this Business Insider or Columbus Dispatch article. 

This announcement isn’t about saving money; we’re actually investing nearly $30 million across the system to take a big step forward in providing tender and juicy chicken. It isn’t about passing on the cost to consumers either because we believe they deserve a great tasting chicken sandwich. While others in the industry have talked about improving chicken quality issues, we’ve worked hard over the past year to identify and act on ways to improve.

In fact, over the last year, we’ve done a few things to make progress including switching up cooking procedures (fresh cooks better) and unveiling a better-tasting and a better-for-you Grilled Chicken Sandwich.

“But what about the welfare of these chickens?” and “Do we still care?”  Of course! We care a great deal and that is why we focus heavily on animal welfare.  We believe high-quality chicken from animals that were well cared for is the foundation of bringing our customers better tasting sandwiches.

This is a journey for us, and we hope you appreciate the work we do with our suppliers to make the chicken you love even better every day.

Liliana