--
For many years, Chick-Fil-A has been serving halal chicken at some of their locations. As this might come as a surprise to many, it is a popular topic that has been discussed a lot in the Muslim “foodie” community. It all started at the ICNA 2015 convention in Baltimore, MD. The convention center had a Chick-Fil-A across the street from it facing the harbor. Once the news broke out at the convention that they were serving halal chicken, the lines were around the block. Popular scholars at the convention had been researching Halal chicken vendors like Mar-Jac Poultry and confirmed that the Baltimore Chick-Fil-A location was using these Halal vendors. This had become so popular in the Muslim community that people were driving 3–4 hours from different states to have the infamous chicken sandwich. Now, this was not the only location serving Halal chicken, Chick-Fil-A in Houston, TX was also found to be serving Halal chicken products at the time of the ISNA convention in 2018.
Years later, in the midst of COVID-19, rumors started circulating that a lot more Chick-Fil-A locations were using Halal chicken vendors. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make some phone calls. I called my local Chick-Fil-A and spoke with the manager who was very nice and knowledgeable about the topic (I was pleasantly surprised). She told me that they are currently using four different chicken vendors and three out of the four are Halal. Unfortunately, they do not keep track of which vendors’ chicken they are cooking, and everything is mixed. When I shared this information with friends and family, they were speechless, Halal Chick-Fil-A is so close yet so far. Action was warranted, we knew we had to do something about it, but did not know what? WhatsApp groups were formed then slowly went silent. But I did not give up!
I called … and called … and called different Chick-Fil-A locations, corporate customer support and store managers, but was not able to get much. Though I did find out some information…
Basically, what it came down to are 2 things:
First, the Chick-Fil-A distribution centers. Based on the Chick-Fil-A location, the store owner or manager has the option to select a Chick -Fil-A distribution center. Chick-Fil-A headquarters has a large list of suppliers (Halal and non-Halal) that supply their distribution centers. Corporate has left it to the owners and managers to decide which distribution center to use. This appears to be the reason for the inconsistency, when the store makes the order from their distribution center, they do not know which vendors’ chicken will be used for that product. If one distribution center only used Halal Chicken vendors, then every Chick-Fil-A using that distribution center would be Halal.
Second, Chick-Fil-A customer support could not provide much transparency into which vendors they use, or which distribution centers only use Halal suppliers. They also alluded to how they could not officially stamp that some of their stores are using Halal chicken because they must address their diverse customer base. This did not make sense because they are obviously already using Halal chicken, so I do not know what they are trying to say with that statement?
All and all, we just want to enjoy a Halal meal at Chick-Fil-A and go about our day. So here is our plea…
Message to the Halal chicken vendors, if you are reading this, we need you! We need you to expand your production and maintain your ethics. What you are doing is way more than a chicken business, it is a culture change. You are enabling Muslims to live a life they have never experienced before in this country. No one in the past 100 years would have ever thought that they would one day walk into an “American” franchise or a fast-food restaurant and be able to enjoy a Halal meal just like anyone else in the world. The ball is in your court and we sincerely pray and hope for your growth in the industry, and that you become the standard for ethical, human treatment of chicken.
Message to Chick-Fil-A, if you are reading this, we hold your chicken products near and dear to our hearts! We would love to enjoy it conveniently at all your locations! We ask you to provide more transparency in your process so that customers can decide for themselves if they are able to eat at your restaurants. We also humbly ask you to provide more incentive for your restaurant owners and for the Halal chicken vendors to provide you high quality chicken products, and that you unify all your locations to use these Halal vendors. As I am sure you already know, this will have a drastic impact on your sales and will enable you to tap into a customer base that you have not reached before. It is my pleasure speaking with everyone in your organization, they have not been anything but welcoming and helpful.
Thank you!
Disclaimer: Through this research I was unable to determine that any of their locations are serving Halal products.
