Lawsuit: Chick-fil-A falsely marketed low-cost food delivery

Chick-fil-A violated its low-price delivery promise for the brand’s chicken sandwich and other menu items, alleges a class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York.

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A gavel and a name plate with the engraving Lawsuit
A gavel and a name plate with the engraving Lawsuit
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Chick-fil-A violated its low-price delivery promise for the brand’s chicken sandwich and other menu items, alleges a class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York.

On September 28th, plaintiffs Aneisha Pittman and Susan Ukpere filed a lawsuit claiming the chicken chain offset low delivery fees by adding hidden charges to the costs of food on delivery orders.

"On delivery orders only, Chick-fil-A secretly marks up food prices for delivery orders by a hefty 25-30%. In other words, the identical order of a 30-count chicken nuggets costs approximately $5-6 more when ordered for delivery than when ordered via the same mobile app for pickup, or when ordered in-store," the lawsuit filing stated.

Hidden delivery costs

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chick-fil-A “moved aggressively into the food delivery business, exploiting an opportunity presented by Americans’ reduced willingness to leave their homes,” the plaintiffs complained.

According to the lawsuit, the chicken chain promoted delivery fees of $2.99 or $3.99 and declined to reveal any hidden costs associated with delivery to gain an upper hand on competitors in a crowded delivery marketplace.

Chick-fil-A, which has until December 6 to respond to the lawsuit, did not respond to a WATTPoultry.com request for comment.

Delivery thrives in a post-pandemic world

The COVID-19 pandemic more than doubled business for food delivery apps such as DoorDash and Grubhub. Online food delivery is expected to grow to projections of $200 billion by the year 2025.

Chicken foodservice thrives in delivery, more so than other kinds of popular food. Most restaurants that sell chicken already had a strong off-premises orientation. They are also offered in a variety of flavors and sizes, making it easy for families to find something for everyone.

Chick-fil-A launched delivery-only virtual brand Little Blue Menu in September, which will give consumers access to hundreds of chicken menu items across four virtual brands, including classic menu items.

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