Chick-fil-A Just Solved a Tricky Problem, and Taught a Smart Hiring Lesson in the Process

This is a story about Chick-fil-A and solving problems—one that seemed pretty tough to tackle.

It started when Chick-fil-A announced plans last year to open its first restaurant in Asia.

I wondered who they would get to run it. Chick-fil-A has a very specific way of choosing owner-operators: they’re famously selective.

In fact, after researching the backgrounds of 100 recent Chick-fil-A selectees, I found that almost everyone who gets a Chick-fil-A franchise can point to a career working there beforehand.

So how’s this for an ironic chicken-and-egg problem: How do you find someone with Chick-fil-A experience to open the first restaurant on an entire continent?

Let’s go to Subway

The answer is apparently personified in Chyn Koh, a 49-year-old Singaporean who will be the owner-operator of the first Chick-fil-A in Asia, opening in late 2025.

Koh had never even tasted Chick-fil-A until May of this year, according to an interview with The Straits Times. By that point, he’d already gone through a seven-month interview process and committed his future to the company.

“My expectations had been built up a lot,” Koh told The Straits Times. “But I took my first bite and then, boom. How can a piece of chicken with two buns and two pickles taste so good? It’s like one plus one equals three.”

Koh hasn’t worked for Chick-fil-A before, but he spent 17 years as a Subway franchisee, operating six outlets. Just as important, he knows Singapore.

The Singapore challenge

Here’s something I would never have known:

Chick-fil-A sandwiches are made with chicken breast—something Singaporeans apparently view as inferior to thigh meat.

As an American who eats a lot of chicken, I very much prefer chicken breast. But that’s a hurdle Chick-fil-A will have to overcome, and Koh addressed it head-on.

“As long as the meat is tender, I actually prefer chicken breast,” Koh said. “There’s just more bite to it. And when you chew it, it has a lot more substance.”

Also, unlike in the U.S., Chick-fil-A won’t use pork at all in Singapore, recognizing that it’s one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world. So, no bacon on your chicken sandwich.

According to The Straits Times, Chick-fil-A will also offer higher pay than the local industry standard—about $14 an hour, compared with $7 to $12 elsewhere.

“This can’t be it?”

What motivated Koh? He said it came from running his six Subway outlets on a stable schedule but feeling like he’d plateaued.

“One day, I was driving, and I thought, ‘This can’t be it, right? There’s got to be something else,’” he said.

So at 49, he decided to devote his last “20 good years of energy” to something new and spectacular—partly to inspire his 13-year-old son:

“What I do matters more than what I say. I want him to see me take on this huge thing, maybe struggle with it and make some mistakes, then come out successful on the other side.

Some owner-operators will say they want to change lives. That might be a bit of a stretch for me, but I feel that we absolutely have the ability to make someone’s day in a restaurant.”

The lesson in the selection

I come neither to praise nor bury Chick-fil-A, but to learn from how they solved this problem.

When your normal playbook doesn’t work, you adapt—but you don’t abandon your principles.

Chick-fil-A couldn’t find someone with Chick-fil-A experience in Singapore. So they looked for someone with restaurant experience, deep local knowledge, and, most importantly, the right values.

Someone who talks about “the nobility of service” and believes attitude beats experience. Someone who wants to show that meaningful work—done well—still matters.

So, Chick-fil-A in Singapore. “Can or not“?

We’ll find out soon enough.