{"id":842960,"date":"2025-11-13T11:20:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=842960"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:20:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:20:09","slug":"major-international-fast-food-franchise-coming-to-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/842960\/major-international-fast-food-franchise-coming-to-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Major international fast food franchise coming to South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Major Korean fried chicken brand Genesis BBQ Chicken has signed a deal to open its first restaurant in South Africa, marking the start of its expansion across the African continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popular fast-food brand has reportedly<\/a> signed a master franchise agreement with Good Tree South Africa, a local distributor of Korean food products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Tree will run Genesis BBQ Chicken restaurants in the country and pay royalties to the Korean company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal was signed at Genesis BBQ\u2019s headquarters in Seoul on 5 November 2025, with company chairman Yoon Hong-geun and Good Tree South Africa CEO Lee Dong-il in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoon said South Africa will play a key role in the company\u2019s plans to grow internationally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africa is our strategic cornerstone for expanding into the African market and promoting K-food globally. We\u2019ll introduce new localised menu items and spread Korean food culture centered on K-chicken,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Tree South Africa plans to open the first Genesis BBQ Chicken restaurants in major cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Bloemfontein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said South Africa\u2019s young population and strong demand for chicken make it an ideal market for the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With more than 63 million people and a median age of 28, the country offers strong potential for franchise growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis BBQ pointed to data from the South African Poultry Association\u2019s 2024 report showing that the average South African eats about 36 kilograms of chicken per year\u2014more than half of all the meat consumed in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is well above the global average of 14.6 kilograms and even higher than Korea\u2019s 16.2 kilograms per person per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chicken is also South Africa\u2019s most popular fast food. Research by Cape Town-based consultancy Eighty20 found that KFC remains the country\u2019s top fast-food brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chicken Licken, Debonairs Pizza, and McDonald\u2019s follow closely behind. The same research showed that chicken, burgers, and pizza make up around two-thirds of all fast-food spending, with chicken taking the largest share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massive expansion plans<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Genesis BBQ Chairman Yoon Hong-geun, right, and Good Tree South Africa CEO Lee Dong-il pose after signing a contract authorizing Good Tree South Africa to operate the Korean fried chicken brand in South Africa<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Founded in Seoul in 1995, Genesis BBQ has grown into one of South Korea\u2019s biggest restaurant franchises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name \u201cBBQ\u201d stands for \u201cBest of the Best Quality,\u201d and the brand is best known for its crispy fried chicken cooked in olive oil, which it said makes the food healthier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company\u2019s early growth was fast. By 1999, it had opened its 1,000th store in Korea and launched \u201cChicken University\u201d in Seoul \u2014 a dedicated training facility for staff and franchise owners to maintain quality and consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis BBQ began expanding overseas in 2003 with its first restaurant in China, followed by Spain in 2004, and the United States, Japan, and Australia in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the brand operates about 2,400 restaurants in South Korea and more than 700 locations in 57 countries. In the United States, it runs around 250 outlets across 30 states, while Canada has over 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, the company was recognised by King Carlos III of Spain with a Medal of Honor for helping to promote Spanish olive oil, a key ingredient in its famous olive oil-fried chicken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoon said the company\u2019s mission is to promote health and happiness through good food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are continuously creating history through challenge and innovation. Our goal is to establish 50,000 restaurants worldwide by 2025 and become the world\u2019s largest franchise group,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis BBQ Chicken hopes its mix of Korean flavours, focus on quality, and health-conscious approach will help it stand out in the competitive market.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Genesis BBQ Chicken <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A major Korean fried chicken brand has signed a deal to open its first restaurant in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":842975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[24092,853],"class_list":["post-842960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-genesis-bbq-chicken","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842960"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842983,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842960\/revisions\/842983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}