bb.q Chicken Franchise Cost: US FDD & Korea KFTC Fees

bb.q Chicken at a Glance

bb.q Chicken is the flagship fried-chicken brand of South Korea's Genesis BBQ Group, founded in Seoul in 1995. The company reports roughly 3,100 stores worldwide, including about 700 outside Korea across 57 countries ^[4]. In the United States it franchises directly through a subsidiary headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey, while elsewhere it combines direct franchising with country-level master franchise agreements ^[5]. Store formats range from food trucks to quick-service restaurants and casual chicken-and-beer outlets ^[5].

Because bb.q franchises under two entirely different disclosure regimes — the US Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) governed by the FTC Franchise Rule, and South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) information disclosure system — its published costs differ hugely between the two markets. The figures are not comparable line-for-line: they cover different store formats, different cost items, and different currencies. This guide keeps them strictly separate.

Cost Summary

Cost item	United States (2025 FDD)	South Korea (KFTC disclosure, 2026)
Initial franchise fee	$45,000 [2]	KRW 11,000,000 [3]
Total initial investment	$305,000 [1] to $1,289,000 [1]	From KRW 90,000,000 [3] (excludes rent and premises deposit)
Royalty	5% of monthly sales [2]	Not listed in the sourced disclosure summary
Advertising fee	1% of monthly sales [2]	Not listed in the sourced disclosure summary
Liquid capital requirement	$165,000 [2]	Not listed in the sourced disclosure summary

United States: 2025 FDD Figures

According to analysis of the brand's 2025 US FDD, the total initial investment ranges from $305,000 ^[1] to $1,289,000 ^[1]. The spread is wide because the range spans the brand's smallest format (a food truck) at the low end up to a full quick-service restaurant build-out at the high end ^[1]. Prospective franchisees comparing bb.q against other Korean fried-chicken brands should note which format a quoted figure refers to.

Key one-time and ongoing fees disclosed for the US market:

• Initial franchise fee: $45,000 ^[2]
• Royalty: 5% of monthly sales ^[2]
• Advertising fee: 1% of monthly sales ^[2]
• Minimum liquid capital: $165,000 ^[2]

These are franchisor-side disclosure figures; your actual all-in cost will also depend on local rent, labor-market conditions, and landlord work allowances, none of which the FDD fixes in advance.

South Korea: KFTC Disclosure Figures

In its home market, bb.q's costs are published through Korea's KFTC franchise information disclosure system, and the structure looks very different from the US FDD. Per the disclosure figures reported in May 2026, the initial franchise fee (gamaengbi) is KRW 11,000,000 ^[3], and the total startup cost is around KRW 90,000,000 ^[3]. That domestic total bundles the franchise fee, training fee, security deposit, interior fit-out, and kitchen equipment — but it excludes rent and the premises deposit (key money), which in Korea can be a substantial additional outlay depending on location ^[3].

Two structural differences are worth underlining for international readers:

• The Korean figure is a compact, standardized store package for the domestic market; the US figure reflects full US-style build-out ranges across multiple formats. The two markets' totals are far apart even before currency conversion, and converting them directly would still not make them comparable.
• The KFTC disclosure summary sourced here does not state ongoing royalty or advertising percentages for the domestic system, so no ongoing-fee figures are presented for Korea in this guide.

Franchising Outside Korea and the US

bb.q actively recruits international partners through its global franchising site ^[5]. Recent expansion has run through master franchise agreements — including a first Africa entry via Good Tree South Africa (November 2025) and a first South America entry via Bebeku Inc. in Colombia — while the US operates through the company's own Fort Lee, New Jersey subsidiary ^[5]. Costs for master-franchise or third-country unit deals are negotiated case by case and are not covered by either disclosure set above.

How to Verify

Franchise cost figures change every disclosure cycle. Before making any decision, request bb.q Chicken's current Franchise Disclosure Document directly from BBQ Chicken USA (for the US market) or the brand's current KFTC 정보공개서 (information disclosure document) via Korea's Fair Trade Commission franchise portal (for Korea), and confirm every fee, investment range, and ongoing percentage against those primary documents. Third-party summaries — including this guide — can lag the latest filing.