What is CFA Supply's role in the Chick Fil A franchise system?
Chick_Fil_A Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
A that may change. Based upon the cost of ingredients to Chick-fil-A (including any freight charges paid to the producer) your cost will fluctuate.
Our affiliate CFA Supply is a distributor approved to carry food products, ingredients, and supplies for franchised, licensed, and company and affiliate owned Chick-fil-A Restaurants. CFA Supply may be the only approved primary distributor serving the geographic area in which it operates. CFA Supply began operations in July 2019. If your franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant is in a location CFA Supply services, your cost for the food products, ingredients, and supplies depends on a pricing formula CFA Supply determines in the exercise of its sole and exclusive business judgment that includes, among other factors, a distribution fee and an allowance for fuel and freight costs from the CFA Supply warehouse to the Chick-fil-A Restaurants it will supply.
Our affiliate Bay Center produces Chick-fil-A branded lemon juice that is a proprietary principal ingredient used to produce proprietary Chick-fil-A branded lemonade. Bay Center is an approved supplier to supply lemon juice to Chick-fil-A Restaurants in geographic areas it operates. Bay Center may be the only approved supplier of lemon juice for the geographic area where it operates. Bay Center began operations in 2020. The lemon juice is purchased by Chick-fil-A's authorized distributor(s) from Bay Center and is shipped by Bay Center directly to Chick-fil-A's authorized distributor(s). The distributor(s) pays Bay Center for the proprietary lemon juice when the lemon juice is purchased by the distributor(s). The distributor(s) then sells the lemon juice to the Operators. If your franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant is in a location Bay Center supplies, your cost for the lemon juice depends on a pricing formula Bay Center determines in the exercise of its sole and exclusive business judgment that includes a markup by Bay Center that may change. Based upon the cost of ingredients to Bay Center (including any freight charges) your cost will fluctuate.
You must purchase all of the following items from suppliers who are approved in advance by Chick-fil-A: all present and future items of food and drink; all items of non-food inventory intended for sale to or use by your customers; all ingredients, food products, produce, mixes, spices, cooking aides, wrappings, food and beverage containers; certain other designated items necessary for maintaining and cleaning your franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant business, certain proprietary marketing and promotional
materials and other items bearing our trademarks, and all other items necessary or optional for preparing products sold in your franchised Chick-fil-A Restaurant business. We are exploring potential renewable energy sources to provide power to and from some Chick-fil-A Restaurants. We anticipate that solar panels will be installed at several Chick-fil-A Restaurants in the test of one or more renewable energy programs. We also anticipate that electric vehicle charging stations will be installed at several Chick-fil-A Restaurants in the test of other renewable energy programs and/or in order to meet applicable legal mandates. If you participate in a renewable energy program in the future, equipment from suppliers we designate, which may include solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations and related services, may be installed at your Chick-fil-A Restaurant, and you may need to enroll in a supplemental power or other supply agreement with an energy or other provider we designate. You may not buy from any supplier that we have not yet approved in writing, and you must stop buying from any supplier who we approve initially, but later disapprove. For purposes of this Item 8, a "supplier" may be a manufacturer, distributor or wholesale/retail establishment which carries the product or related services. A "manufacturer" makes the product or provides the service; a "distributor" acquires the product from the manufacturer and ships the product to you.
In order to, among other things, take advantage of marketplace efficiencies and volume pricing, Chick-fil-A negotiates and enters into certain system-wide purchase and distribution arrangements with suppliers for many supplies, ingredients, food and beverage products, produce and other items and services used in, or in connection with the operation of, Chick-fil-A Restaurants.
Source: Item 8 — Restrictions on Sources of Products and Services (FDD pages 43–49)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Chick Fil A's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, CFA Supply, an affiliate of Chick Fil A, acts as an approved distributor of food products, ingredients, and supplies to Chick-fil-A Restaurants. CFA Supply began operations in July 2019. In some geographic areas, CFA Supply may be the only approved primary distributor. If a Chick-fil-A Restaurant is located in an area serviced by CFA Supply, the cost of food products, ingredients, and supplies is determined by a pricing formula that CFA Supply establishes. This formula includes a distribution fee and allowances for fuel and freight costs from the CFA Supply warehouse to the Chick-fil-A Restaurants.
In 2024, Chick Fil A's affiliate CFA Supply received $1,996,943,030 from purchases made by Operators and Licensees in geographic areas it serviced, which is included in Chick Fil A's consolidated revenues. Certain officers of Chick-fil-A own an interest in CFA Supply. Chick-fil-A retains the right to change supplier requirements, including single-source requirements, as the Chick-fil-A system evolves.
Chick Fil A may require franchisees to use its system-wide purchase and distribution programs for their purchases of most supplies, ingredients, food and beverage products, produce, other items, and services necessary for operating and promoting a Chick-fil-A Restaurant. Chick-fil-A considers factors such as the supplier's ability to meet standards and specifications, quality controls, capacity, and the ability to take advantage of marketplace efficiencies and volume pricing when approving suppliers or entering into arrangements.