Award Recipient
Retail, Consumer Products and Hospitality
Christian de Berdouaré is serious about business. He started to read business magazines when he was 12. He graduated from a French high school when he was 17. He attended law school when he was still in his teens. He worked for more than a decade trading soft commodities in London, New York and Paris. He speaks seven languages. But from time to time, de Berdouaré is also less than serious about business, too. He is, in fact, a little silly.
And that is the point.
For more than a quarter of a century, de Berdouaré has worked as the founder and CEO of Chicken Kitchen USA LLC. That is his official title. But if you dig a little deeper, you will find he also refers to himself as the chief chickenologist. Dig deeper still and you will find de Berdouaré in a lab coat and toy glasses, the star of a commercial for the restaurant chain. Yes, de Berdouaré knows how to build a business, but he also knows how to have some fun.
De Berdouaré is dedicated to healthy food at an affordable price. When he came to Chicken Kitchen in New York in 1984, he experienced success and was able to expand to five locations in the city. But astronomical rents and high operating expenses doomed the company in 1987. During the next year, de Berdouaré restructured the company, moved it to South Florida and started again in 1988. The company moved into food courts in 1995 and has continued to grow since, now with 38 locations.
De Berdouaré monitors store operations on a daily basis in order to save costs wherever possible, though never at the cost of quality. That, after all, would be bad for business, and de Berdouaré is serious about business.
How to reach: Chicken Kitchen USA LLC, (305) 892-7878 or www.chickenkitchen.com
