Starbird
New Concept Creation / Whitespace Identification / Menu Strategy & Creative
What happens when industry-leading restaurant consultants reimagine fast food to meet the needs of a new America? The answer: Positively delicious chicken.
+33%
sss growth450k
ebItdA+45%
coc return“The opportunity for food innovation.”
The Opportunity.
After years of putting strategic thinking and culinary talent to work for our clients, the team members at The Culinary Edge endeavored to create their own restaurant concept. As a group of hardworking creatives and chefs with a keen eye on the F&B landscape, we recognized that a gap was forming in the marketplace.
Chicken was -and still is- the most consumed protein in America and the chicken restaurant marketplace was plentiful with concepts that offered highly craveable products. They had approachable offerings that spoke to a wide spectrum of needs and occasions and capitalized on chicken’s universal appeal and health halo. But, there was an overwhelming sea of sameness.
At the same time, the restaurant landscape itself was changing, with consumers increasingly eating on the go, demanding convenient and accessible options. In this, The Culinary Edge team saw an opportunity to create a uniquely bold, chef-driven chicken concept that could execute with top efficiency.
Our Insights.
The previous years were marked by a craft burger movement that had redefined the burger landscape. But - the same changes had yet to dawn on the crispy chicken landscape. The key was identifying the best “first moves” to take in this space, and these decisions rested on a few key insights that came from researching the chicken marketplace.
First, we found that the Southern nostalgia trend in fried chicken was heavily played out and something had yet to take its place. In particular global flavors were largely missing. There was very little form variation that existed - with chicken platters, bone-in buckets, and wings pervading the space.
Competitive menus largely failed to address contemporary eating styles, with health being addressed in the subtractive - using language like “low fat” and “low calorie”.
“Crispy chicken was due for a culinary makeover. ”
Crispy chicken was due for a culinary makeover. It was time to bring premium quality, craft, and chef-driven techniques to the mainstream.
The fast-food world was ready for new flavors and new forms that addressed contemporary eating sensibilities and styles. Convenience need not equate to sacrificing flavor and quality.
Our Results.
Today, Starbird Chicken is built upon pillars of culinary innovation, a frictionless service model, and operational excellence. It has successfully established itself as a brand to watch out for within the $34 billion US chicken marketplace. By merging the strongest elements of QSR and Fast Casual, Starbird has defined a new market segment: Super Premium Fast Food.
At its core, Starbird is all about fresh and delicious crispy chicken that people can feel good about eating. We take antibiotic-free chicken raised in our Bay Area backyard and hand-bread it in our secret blend of gluten-free flour and spices.
On-premise and off-premise, every touchpoint delivers an iconic brand and an engaging experience. Bright fixtures, natural woods, and modern accents create a vibrant environment. Custom plating and packaging are clean, colorful, and Instagram-worthy.
In just 4 years, Starbird has grown from a single unit to five Bay Area locations and an SF-based cloud kitchen. Currently, we have plans to open two additional Bay Area locations and enter into additional cloud kitchens in Los Angeles. The brand has received national recognition and numerous awards, including Fast Casual’s Top Movers & Shakers in 2017, 2018, and 2020 and Nation’s Restaurant News 2020 Most Influential CEOs and 2017 Breakout brand.
The brand has fundamentally changed the future of fast food by being a place where fast and convenient meets culinary credibility; where approachability meets global flavors; where craveability and indulgence meet ingredient integrity; and where perfectly crispy chicken meets a tech-driven customer experience. Every day at TCE, we continue to work with Starbird's core team to optimize for scale, codify our “lightning in a bottle,” and innovate to keep the brand on the front foot.
