Product Profile: Chick-fil-A

 

INDUSTRY

food

Category

chain restaurants

product Profiled

Chick-fil-A restaurants

 

H-Score

 

38

ranked 16th of 25 within the food industry

ranked 50th of 76 overall

 

product description

 

Chick-fil-A is a chain of fast food restaurants with over 2,800 outlets across the U.S.(1) It serves meals throughout the day and evening, offering consistent menus throughout the U.S. Chick-fil-A serves chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, French fries, salads, soft drinks and other food items.

 

product use

 

Customers can purchase food by ordering at the counter, at a drive-thru window (where available), or via a website or app. In recent years, customers can also have Chick-fil-A’s food delivered via a delivery service such as DoorDash, Grubhub or UberEats. Customers can eat inside the restaurants or take their meals away.

 

who’s affected

 

Chick-fil-A’s target market includes the general population. Chick-fil-A restaurants can be found in a variety of communities with menu prices accessible to individuals of most household income levels.

 
 

influence on health-related behaviors

 

EATING

moderate negative influence

 

Chick-fil-A serves fast food, which, broadly speaking, can be unhealthy. Researchers have found 70% of meals served at fast food restaurants (not specific to Chick-fil-A) to be of poor nutritional quality.(2)

In Building H’s analysis, Chick-fil-A was found to have a modified Restaurant Nutrition Quality (RNQ)(3,4) score of 0.89. Of the 11 chain restaurants in the Index, the range of modified RNQ scores was 1.65 (best) to 0.50 (worst). Chick-fil-A’s score placed it 4th highest of the 11 restaurant chains we profiled. In addition, in a 2021 study that calculated the RNQ for over 500 chain restaurants, Chick-fil-A’s RNQ placed it in the 70th percentile (higher is better).

In terms of calories, a sample of featured breakfast meal combos averaged 992 calories, representing 2.9 times the recommended calories for women at breakfast and 2.2 times the recommended calories for men at breakfast.(5) For their standard menu, a sample of featured meal combos averaged 760 calories, or 1.4 times the recommended calories for women at lunch, 1.0 times the recommended calories for men at lunch, 1.1 times the recommended calories for women at dinner, and 0.9 times the recommended calories for men at dinner. Approximately 10-20% percent of Chick-fil-A’s sales take place during the breakfast hours, 40-50% percent during lunch hours and 30-40% percent during dinner hours.(6)

Chick-fil-A does not feature or facilitate the choice of its healthier items in its online menus. The most prominent items are chicken sandwiches, for which Chick-fil-A is most well-known. 

Chick-fil-A promotes additional consumption through the use of cross-selling in the ordering and checkout processes. Before a customer finishes checking out Chick-fil-A prompts them to add additional items, even if a meal (with a side and a drink) has already been selected. After an additional item is added to the order, Chick-fil-A often recommends more items.(7)

 

opportunities:

  • Feature healthier items more prominently in menu presentation and in recommendations.
  • Highlight healthy modifications or substitutions whenever possible.
  • Set default options of customizable meals to the healthiest options available.
  • Offer reduced portion size options.
  • Enable users to set preferences for calorie limits and/or how healthy they want their diets to be and then tailor their ordering experience and recommendations accordingly.
  • Do not recommend additional items after users pass a reasonable calories per person level.
 
 

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

slight negative influence

 

One way in which restaurants contribute to physical activity is how people arrive at them. Restaurants in walkable locations are more likely to get customers to walk or bike to them than restaurants located in car-dependent neighborhoods. Building H reviewed a sample of Chick-fil-A locations and found that 47% were in either “most walkable” (19%) or “above-average walkable” (28%) neighborhoods. Fifty-three (53) percent were in “below-average walkable” (49%) or “least walkable” (5%) neighborhoods, using the US EPA’s National Walkability Index.(8)

An additional factor that affects physical activity is the presence of drive-thru windows, which enable customers to pick up meals without ever leaving their cars. Seventy (70) percent of the Chick-fil-A locations Building H reviewed had drive-thru service available.(9)

 

opportunities:

  • Reduce emphasis on drive-thru service.
  • Consider neighborhood walkability and bikeability when selecting new locations.
 
 

Sleeping

neutral influence

 

Studies have shown that eating within three hours before bedtime increases the likelihood of sleep disruption.(10)

Chick-fil-A locations are typically open until 9:00 or 10:00 pm. Based on Google data about a sample of locations, it appears that less than 5% of Chick-fil-A’s activity takes place after 9:00 pm.(11)

Note that late night eating does not necessarily result in eating shortly before bedtime or extending into people’s sleep windows as there is diversity in daily schedules (due to reasons such as shift work).

opportunities:

  • Discourage ordering of caffeinated drinks in the evening.
 
 

Engaging Socially

neutral to slight negative influence

 

Eating in a restaurant can be a social experience, especially when one eats with family or friends. It is not clear how many of Chick-fil-A’s customers eat in the restaurant in groups or take food out for groups.

A Building H analysis of Google data shows that the typical amount of time spent at nearly 15% of Chick-fil-A locations sampled was at or above 20 minutes. This may suggest that many customers are staying to eat at these locations, while most customers at the majority of Chick-fil-A restaurants are not staying to eat in the restaurant.(12) 

Drive-thru service and delivery service would typically involve less social interaction. Building H reviewed a sample of Chick-fil-A locations and found that 70% offer drive-thru service. It is not clear what proportion of orders are either delivered or picked up at drive-thru windows. 

Chick-fil-A is also installing kiosks for ordering, which also limits interactions between customers and staff.(13)

 

opportunities:

  • Focus on the dine-in experience in order to encourage more customers to eat in the restaurants.
    • Ensure adequate seating for eating in.
    • Add communal tables as seating options.
  • Limit kiosk or app-based automated ordering in order to promote more interaction among staff and customers.
  • Facilitate family style meals for both in-person dining and delivery or take-out orders.
  • Train staff at both counters and drive-thru windows to create moments of connection in their interactions with customers.
 
 

Getting Outdoors

neutral influence

 

Providing outdoor seating can positively influence the amount of time that customers spend outdoors. Building H reviewed a sample of Chick-fil-A locations and found that 71% offer outdoor seating.

The walkability of restaurant locations can influence the amount of time customers spend outdoors. The more walkable, the more likely it is that customers walk or bike to and from the locations and thus spend time outdoors. As noted above, 47% of Chick-fil-A's locations were in either “most walkable” or “above-average walkable” neighborhoods, while 53% were in “below-average walkable” or “least walkable” neighborhoods.

The availability of drive-thru service can similarly influence outdoor time by affecting the likelihood of walking or biking. Approximately 70% of Chick-fil-A locations have drive-thru service.

 

opportunities:

  • Offer outdoor seating at more restaurants.
  • Create robust outdoor play areas for families.
 
 
 

Notes

 

  1. Locations listing. Chick-fil-A website, accessed July 2023.

  2. Junxiu Liu et al. Quality of Meals Consumed by US Adults at Full-Service and Fast-Food Restaurants, 2003–2016: Persistent Low Quality and Widening Disparities. The Journal of Nutrition. Volume 150, Issue 4 (April 2020), pp. 873–883.

  3. Iris Liu et al. A continuous indicator of food environment nutritional quality. MedRxiv. November 26, 2021.

  4. The RNQ is based on the ratio of nutrients recommended by dietary guidelines, e.g. protein and fiber, to ingredients whose consumption should be restricted, such as sugars, sodium and saturated fats, for the median menu item. Building H modified the RNQ by selecting the most featured breakfast and lunch/dinner menu items and weighting them by relative popularity of the breakfast items and items sold at lunch or dinner. (To determine relative popularity of breakfast items and items sold at lunch or dinner, Building H examined data on customer traffic at different times of day for a sample of restaurants.)

  5. Based on a Building H review of the most featured meal combos in September 2023, as compared with federal data on how Americans distribute their calories across meals (see Eliana Zeballos et al. Frequency and Time of Day That AmericansEat: A Comparison of Data From the AmericanTime Use Survey and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. USDA Economic Research Service, Technical Bulletin Number 1954. July 2019) and federal dietary guidelines for moderately active adults (see U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. December, 2020, p. 140).

  6. Based on a Building H review of Google’s “popular times” data for a sample of 50 randomly selected Chick-fil-A locations. July 2023.

  7. Sample online order via chick-fil-a.com. October 10, 2023.

  8. Based on a random sample of 50 US locations. For the National Walkability Index, see U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. National Walkability Index: Methodology and User Guide. July 2023.

  9. Based on a Building H review of service options listed on Google for a random sample of Chick-fil-A locations. July 2023.

  10. Nicola Chung et al. Does the Proximity of Meals to Bedtime Influence the Sleep of Young Adults? A Cross-Sectional Survey of University Students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Volume 17, Issue 8 (April 14, 2020), p.2677.

  11. Based on a Building H review of Google’s “popular times” data for a sample of 50 randomly selected Chick-fil-A locations. July 2023.

  12. Based on a Building H review of Google’s data on how much time people typically spend at a location for a random sample of Chick-fil-A locations. July 2023.

  13. Digital Kiosks in QSR and Fast Dining: Use Cases, Benefits, and More. TelemetryTV website. November 16, 2023.