Korean Fried Chicken Franchise Cost: 7 Brands Compared

Korean fried chicken is one of the most widely franchised Korean food categories abroad, and the cost of entry varies enormously — by brand, by market, and by store format. This guide compares the disclosed startup costs and fees of seven Korean chicken franchise brands: bb.q Chicken, bhc Chicken, Bonchon, NeNe Chicken, Goobne Chicken, Kyochon Chicken, and Pelicana Chicken. All figures are drawn from franchise disclosure documents or disclosure-based summaries; none are estimates by this guide.

What these figures cover

• US figures come from each franchisor's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), mainly the Item 7 initial-investment range. These typically include buildout, equipment, initial fees, and some working capital, but not real property purchase.
• Korea figures come from Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) franchise disclosure filings (정보공개서). They generally exclude the premises lease deposit and key money, so total cash needed is higher than the listed number.
• Disclosure years differ by brand. Goobne's US figures come from a 2022 FDD, Pelicana's from 2024, Kyochon's investment range from a 2026 filing, and NeNe's Korean figures from a 2021 disclosure. Ranges are not perfectly like-for-like.

Cost comparison

Brand	Market	Investment range	Franchise fee
bb.q Chicken	US	$305,000 [1] – $1,289,000 [1]	$45,000 [2]
bb.q Chicken	Korea	from KRW 90,000,000 [3]	KRW 11,000,000 [3]
bhc Chicken	US	$391,838 [4] – $805,188 [4]	$40,000 [4]
bhc Chicken	Korea	from KRW 90,030,000 [5]	KRW 11,000,000 [5]
Bonchon	US	$591,436 [6] – $1,312,626 [6]	$35,000 [7]
Bonchon	Korea	from KRW 125,730,000 [9]	—
NeNe Chicken	Korea	KRW 80,910,000 [10] – KRW 107,910,000 [10]	KRW 0 [10]
NeNe Chicken	Australia (AUD)	AUD 350,000 [12] – AUD 650,000 [12]	AUD 50,000 [13]
Goobne Chicken	US	$300,000 [14] – $566,000 [14]	$35,000 [14]
Goobne Chicken	Korea	from KRW 92,460,000 [15]	KRW 5,500,000 [15]
Kyochon Chicken	US	$543,500 [16] – $1,088,500 [16]	$40,000 [17] (2022 FDD)
Kyochon Chicken	Korea	from KRW 131,010,000 [18]	KRW 6,770,000 [18]
Pelicana Chicken	US	$293,000 [19] – $630,000 [19]	$35,000 [20]
Pelicana Chicken	Korea	from KRW 35,900,000 [21]	KRW 0 [21]

Two caveats on the table: NeNe Chicken's Australian figures apply to sub-franchises under ST Group's master franchise, not a direct deal with the Korean franchisor. Bonchon's Korean figure is an aggregator estimate; the brand's franchise network is concentrated outside Korea.

Ongoing royalty and marketing fees

• bb.q Chicken (US): royalty 5% ^[2] and advertising fee 1% ^[2] of monthly sales.
• bhc Chicken (US): royalty 5% ^[4] and advertising fee 3% ^[4] of monthly sales.
• Bonchon (US): royalty 5% ^[7]; system ad fund up to 4% (currently 1.5%) ^[8] plus local advertising minimums.
• Pelicana Chicken (US): royalty 4% ^[20] and advertising fee 1% ^[20].
• NeNe Chicken: in Korea the franchisor advertises 0% ^[11] royalty; Australian sub-franchisees pay a 6% ^[13] royalty and a 3% ^[13] marketing levy.

Liquid capital requirements (US)

• Bonchon: $500,000 ^[7] for a single operator (1–2 units)
• bb.q Chicken: $165,000 ^[2]
• bhc Chicken: $100,000 ^[4]
• Pelicana Chicken: $75,000 ^[20]

Why the ranges are so wide

Store format drives most of the spread. bb.q Chicken's US range runs from a food-truck format at the low end to a full QSR at the top ^[1]. Bonchon's low end is its Delivery & Carryout format, while its Dine-In format starts at $1,005,136 ^[6]. Korean domestic totals are far lower than US ones partly because disclosure figures are quoted for compact stores — NeNe's Korean figure is on a 12-pyeong (roughly 40 m²) basis ^[10] — and exclude premises costs entirely.

How to verify

Every figure above is a snapshot from a specific disclosure document or a disclosure-based summary at a specific date, and franchisors revise their numbers with each annual filing. Before making any decision, request the franchisor's current disclosure document — the FDD in the United States, the KFTC 정보공개서 in Korea, or the equivalent filing in your market — and confirm the investment range, initial fee, royalty, and marketing fees directly in that document. Where a master franchisee operates your territory, verify terms with both the master and the Korean headquarters.