Chick-fil-A bet on chicken 60 years ago. Now it’s America’s third largest restaurant chain

For decades, Chick-fil-A — with its iconic cow mascot — has encouraged Americans to skip hamburgers and instead “Eat Mor Chikin.”

Today Chick-fil-A is the third-largest restaurant chain in the U.S. behind McDonald’s and Starbucks, with nearly $24 billion in sales last year. Chick-fil-A also has around 3,000 locations around the world, having recently expanded to the U.K. and Singapore.

But the global giant came from humble beginnings.

“My grandfather grew up in extreme poverty,” CEO Andrew Cathy said in a recent interview for NBC News’ Business in America series.

“He actually lived in the first government housing in the state of Georgia, and after the war, he decided to start a business with his brother Ben. And they’re like, ‘We want a better life for ourselves,’” Cathy said.

So Truett and Ben Cathy opened a diner called the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia, in 1946. After a local supplier offered them big chicken breasts that had been rejected by Delta Air Lines, Truett developed the sandwich that eventually became the signature menu item of the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in 1967.

Truett’s son Dan Cathy eventually took over the business from his father, and his son Andrew became CEO in…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business