ATLANTA – One of the largest quick-service restaurant chicken chains in the world, Texas Chicken, Church’s Texas Chicken, stepped up the pace of international expansion with 100 new restaurants slated to open in 2022 in the brand’s major growth markets including Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

Each new Church’s Texas Chicken or Texas Chicken restaurant set to open in 2022 will feature the brand’s signature menu items including hand-battered and double-breaded Original and Spicy Chicken, honey-butter biscuits, family meals, sandwiches, wraps, individual combos, homestyle sides and desserts.

The expansion planned for 2022 follows the late 2021 opening of a flagship restaurant in Qatar where the initial response far exceeded sales expectations set for the Doha location owned and operated by franchisee Premium Limited Group, according to the company. The Texas Chicken restaurant in Medina Centrale, The Pearl, was successfully introduced to the local community with a grand opening celebration last November and a 360-degree advertising campaign to drive traffic and awareness.

To support this expansion, the QSR tapped industry veteran Ignacio Barbadillo who joins the company as director, International New Business Development based in Madrid. In his new role, Barbadillo will be responsible for sourcing franchise groups to continue the expansion of Texas Chicken and Church’s Texas Chicken growth internationally.

“Quick service chicken is a fast-growing segment with tremendous opportunity for growth in almost every corner of the world,” Barbadillo said. “Our differentiated, high-quality product along with the company’s ambitious plans for growth and the genuine love its people have for the brand are what attracted me to this incredibly exciting role.”  

Barbadillo most recently served as global development leader at General Mills-Haagen-Daz Shops where he led global development strategy and focused on franchise recruitment to drive growth.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ignacio, an industry standout whose deep expertise will support our continued efforts to develop meaningful franchise relationships and drive increased market share, unit growth and EBITDA,” said Russ Sumrall, senior vice president, International Strategic Development for Church’s Texas Chicken and Texas Chicken Brands. “He has already jumped right in with the strategic insights and energetic passion that will move us forward as we look to extend our solid reputation as a competitive leader in the chicken QSR space around the world.”