FFC Exclusive: Chick-Fil-A Interview
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past couple weeks, you’ve probably seen and heard the advertisements for McDonald’s new “Southern Style” chicken sandwich and biscuit. You might have even tried it already. And if you’re a fan of Chick-Fil-A, you are probably thinking that Ronald McDonald found a way to infiltrate the CFA headquarters and sneak away with the secret recipe, because the new sandwich from McDonald’s is so similar it could be the long-lost brother of the legenday Chick-Fil-A sandwich. How did this happen? What does CFA think about it? That’s what I wanted to know, so during my recent conversation with CFA’s Corporate PR man, Mark Baldwin, I gathered up enough courage to ask him.
FFC: Let’s get right to it — McDonald’s copied Chick-Fil-A. I know it. You know it. McDonald’s knows it. Everybody knows it. — How does that make you feel?
CFA: We are flattered that McDonald’s is enamored enough with our products to be willing to clearly imitate our original Chick-fil-A Sandwich and Biscuit. Based on the reactions we’ve seen from customers thus far, they are making good choices and realize the superiority of Chick-fil-A’s products and people.
FFC: Have you tried their new sandwich? What did you think about it?
CFA: Yes, we all have tried the Southern Style chicken biscuit and sandwich and, to be honest, they did a good job copying our products. It will probably do well on Sundays (when Chick-fil-A restaurants are closed)!
FFC: It seems McDonald’s was very thorough when replicating the CFA sandwich.
CFA: There are, however, some key differences in the two products. Since Truett Cathy created the first chicken sandwich in the early 1960’s, Chick-fil-A has been preparing each sandwich fresh daily at the restaurant. We hand bread our chicken sandwich and breakfast filets in the store, while our competitors have frozen, pre-breaded chicken shipped to their restaurants. We even make our biscuits from scratch every morning.
FFC: They seem to have done a good job in duplicating the seasoning and flavor. Did they hire a team of food spies to steal the secret recipe? Maybe they tied up and kidnapped Truett Cathy (CEO) and forced him to spill the beans? (laughing)
CFA: No, they didn’t tie Truett up to get the recipe, but two of their Atlanta franchisees finally realized the impact Chick-fil-A was making, and convinced their corporate folks to try a chicken sandwich. You might be interested in this article that explains McDonald’s entry into the chicken sandwich market.
FFC: Very interesting stuff. Mark, I want to thank you and Chick-Fil-A for being gracious enough to visit with me today. I realize the circumstances are a bit unusual. In closing, is their anything new and exciting coming up for CFA?
CFA: We will be releasing some pretty significant news ourselves next week — basically, 180 degrees different from the Chicken Sandwich and Biscuit hype. You may want to fast over the weekend, because there will be plenty to try!
My thanks again to Mark for the candid converstaion.
I love Chick-Fil-A, and I’ve been eating at McDonald’s since I was a kid. It’s an odd feeling for me, to see one copy the other. They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. So considering that McDonald’s is the #1 fast-food chain in the world, and they are copying somebody else, this would seem to confirm my belief that Chick-Fil-A is, and has been for many years, the best chicken sandwich in fast-food.
How do I think the new offering from McDonald’s compares? I’ve tried it once, and it was a very good sandwich. I’m going to have it again soon, and bring some friends along with me. I will follow-up with my review, plus the opinions from my guests.
FFC, as I shared with you privately, I think CFA has nothing to fear from the clown’s seriously bad imitation. But then again, I’ve always been afraid of clowns.
Hahaha…Geezer, suddenly I’m reminded of Kramer from the Seinfeld TV series… he was terrified of clowns.
FFC…first off..love the site!! Since discoving it, i come back most every day..I was directed here by the fast food section at “roadfood.com” and it was good fortune for me! Mcd’s have been testing the new chicken sandwich here in Michigan for over a year now..this was our 3rd “get a free sandwich” promotion they have done since last year. Since we dont have CFA’s here, even if it is a knockoff, the mcd’s chick sand is pretty good. Again thanks for the great site! Theres another fast food site you should check. Its done by a guy out of Iowa named Sam Graham. its at http://www.99w.com/evilsam/ff/index.htm
real similar in style to this site…he could easily be a contributor to your site…have a good one!
Craig
I think the McD’s version is smaller and worse than CFA’s in a number of ways. The chicken isn’t as juicy or big, the breading is a little off, and they aren’t as generous with the butter.
I would never eat the McD’s version if there was a CFA around. It is a good imitation, and a pretty good fast food sandwich, but nowhere near the original.
However, McD’s will sell a LOT on sundays to people craving chik fil a !
Nice! We truly liked this work .
This new Southern Style Chicken Sandwich is really very good IMHO. It’s my new favorite menu item at McD’s.
I have never had a Chick-Fil-A before (none in my area), but now I’m looking forward to trying one.
[…] the meantime, a debate has erupted among fast-foodies over which chain has the best fried chicken sandwich: McDonald’s or Chick-fil-A. […]
No debate has erupted among anyone who has taste buds. Chik fil a wins that battle, hands down.
OK, I tried the new McD chicken Biscuit and i was quite underwhelmed. Not sure if it was available in the rest of the country, but we ahd a mighty tasty McD chicken biscuit available here in Florida for quite a while and it was pretty darn good…then they disappeared from the menu, replaced with the (IMHO) crappy new breakfast burrito offering…yuck! Now they’re back with this supposedly “Southern style” chix Biscuit and it seems to me they’re off the mark…the old one was MUCH better…meatier, juicier and more flavorful…this one was thin, dry and bland…Bring back the old chicken biscuit!!!
FFC, I want to know what CFA is introducing! What is it???????
Never mind, I just saw the latest CFA post.
CFA all the way. I tried the MCD chicken biscuit and it is awful! I am glad it was free. It is very salty, the biscuit is dry and the chicken tastes fake. I know it is fast food and all but really put more CHICKEN in your Chicken MCD. It tasted like a big chicken nugget which isn’t a good thing. bleh! I will stick w/ CFA even though I have to drive farther for it!
Thank you to everyone for visiting the site, and taking the time to post your comments and opinions.
I’m sure CFA and McDonald’s also appreciate hearing the feedback.
I like the new Mcdonalds chicken sandwich I think they did a good job. I haven’t tried the breakfast chicken biscuit yet maybe this weekend.
Went by MickyD’s this morning and got my free Chicken Biscuit (3rd free promotion in my area). Took a bite when I got to work and it was so dry I needed some coffee.
When I got to the coffee machine a really nice recruiter in our area always brings by CFA biscuits and so I grabbed that one, and then went back to my desk and threw the McDonalds one away.
CFA is much much better. McD’s main problem is consistency. CFA is great every time, McD’s is good one time, then over cooked, dry the next. They need to get their act together if they want to break CFA in the Atlanta area.
I do want to thank McD’s for their free biscuit promotion, since without it, I would never have found the CFA biscuits this morning hehee
[…] and FastFoodCritic.com talked to Chick-fil-A to get their feelings in this exclusive interview.http://fastfoodcritic.com/fast-food-news/ffc-exclusive-chick-fil-a-interview/Eat Fort Collins - Dining - Fast / QuickBurgerKing NE. Reviews: 0. BurgerKing NE. Reviews: 0. […]
I was in Muskegon, Michigan last summer when McD first introduced their Southern Chicken Sandwich. I asked the person in the drive-thru what it was. As soon as he described it, I replied, “Oh, it is a Chick-fil-A sandwich. Do you sell Sweet Tea too?” Of course, he said, no they did sell tea and give sugar packets. I could not bring myself to try the sandwich as I did not want to be unfaithful to CFA and could not imagine it without a sweet tea. Come on, a Southern Chicken Sandwich without sweet tea? Glad to see McD is selling the $1 Sweet Tea now (although I did find a McD in Orlando that charged more than $1).
First the sandwich, now the sweet tea! McD’s must be really scared or maybe desperate?
Great biscuit sandwich for under two bucks.
The southern sandwich is a pass for $2.89.