So Church's Texas Chicken announced they're making a serious push into catering. And look, my first reaction was probably the same as yours — another QSR brand trying to muscle into the catering space with reheated product and aggressive pricing. But I've been thinking about this more, and there's actually something worth paying attention to here if you're running commercial BBQ or high-volume catering out of a legitimate operation.
The move isn't surprising if you've been watching the fast-casual segment over the last eighteen months. Wingstop did something similar. Popeyes has been testing catering programs in select markets. These chains have distribution networks, brand recognition, and — here's the thing — they're not afraid to undercut on price because catering is incremental revenue for them. It's gravy on top of their core business.
For those of us who actually are the catering business, that changes the math.
What Church's Is Actually Offering
From what I've seen of the rollout materials, they're targeting corporate lunch accounts and event catering with family-meal style packages. Bone-in chicken, obviously. Sides that travel well — mac and cheese, coleslaw, biscuits. The kind of stuff that holds in cambros and doesn't require much on-site finishing.
Their price point appears to be somewhere around $8–9 per person for the basic packages. That's aggressive. Not impossible to compete with, but aggressive.
Now, I want to be fair here. Church's isn't pretending to be craft BBQ. They're not marketing smoked brisket or competition-style ribs. They're going after the "feed 50 people for under $500" market segment — office lunches, church events, youth sports banquets. The accounts where convenience and price drive decisions more than culinary excellence.
But here's where it gets interesting for commercial operators: that market segment has been a bread-and-butter revenue stream for a lot of catering operations. The Tuesday corporate lunch that pays $12 a head. The Friday team celebration. Those accounts add up, and losing them to a chain with 1,400 locations changes your annual revenue picture pretty fast.
The Real Competition Isn't on Product Quality
I had a conversation last month with a guy running three catering rigs out of San Antonio. He's been doing this for eleven years. His brisket is legitimately excellent — he's running a Southern Pride SP-1000 that he bought used and has put maybe 15,000 cook cycles on at this point. The thing still holds temp within 5 degrees because that's what actual USA-built equipment does when you maintain it properly.
Anyway, he lost a corporate account to Chick-fil-A's catering program. Not because his food was worse — the client told him directly the food was better. He lost it because the admin assistant who orders lunch every week could do Chick-fil-A through an app in two minutes. His operation required a phone call, a custom quote, and a 48-hour lead time.
That's the actual competitive landscape now. It's not just about what comes out of your smoker.
Church's is going to have app ordering. They're going to have standardized pricing that doesn't require a quote. They're going to have a brand name that the person signing the corporate card recognizes.
So what do you do about it?
Where Commercial BBQ Operations Still Win
The chains can't touch you on flavor. That's obvious. But more importantly, they can't touch you on flexibility, premium positioning, or the kind of events where the food actually matters to the people eating it.
Wedding rehearsal dinners. Company milestone celebrations. Client appreciation events. Fundraisers where the food is part of the draw. These aren't going to Church's Texas Chicken no matter how convenient the app is.
The operators I see thriving right now have gotten very intentional about which accounts they pursue. They're not fighting for the $8-a-head Tuesday lunch anymore. They're going after the $18–25 per person events where smoked meat is the centerpiece, not just fuel for a meeting.
And the math actually works better. Let me break this down because I think some operators haven't run these numbers lately.
A 50-person corporate lunch at $12/head is $600 gross. Your food cost on that — if you're running efficient, doing pulled pork and chicken with standard sides — is probably running you 32-35%. Call it $200 in product. You've got $400 left, but you also have delivery, setup, labor for portioning and packing, and the opportunity cost of your smoker capacity that day.
A 50-person rehearsal dinner at $22/head is $1,100 gross. Your food cost goes up because you're probably doing brisket and nicer sides — maybe 38%. That's $418 in product. But you're keeping $682 gross margin on roughly the same labor and logistics footprint.
When Church's takes that first account from you, you haven't actually lost money if you replace it with the second type of account. You've upgraded your business.
Equipment Decisions That Support This Pivot
Here's where I'll get specific about what this means for your operation.
If you're chasing high-volume, low-margin catering accounts, you need maximum throughput. You're optimizing for pounds per hour. An SPK-1400 or SP-1500 makes sense because you're trying to push volume through the system.
But if you're pivoting toward premium events — and I think that's the smart play given where the competitive landscape is heading — your equipment priorities shift. You need consistency more than raw capacity. You need hold capability for longer service windows. You need the flexibility to run different proteins at different temps simultaneously.
A lot of operators I work with are finding that an SP-700 or MLR-850 actually serves them better than they expected for premium catering. The rotisserie system on these Southern Pride units gives you that even cook that matters when someone's paying $22 a head instead of $12. The temperature consistency means your brisket flat isn't drying out while the point finishes.
I've seen guys try to save money going with import smokers or some of the lighter-duty domestic options. And look — some of those will cook food. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But when you're running a premium catering operation, equipment downtime kills you. A service call on a Saturday morning before a wedding event isn't just an inconvenience. It's a reputation-destroying disaster.
The reason I keep coming back to Southern Pride equipment is parts availability and build quality. When something does need service — and everything eventually needs service — I can get parts from Southern Pride of Texas and have them in hand fast. Try that with some of the imported cabinet smokers. You'll be waiting three weeks for a thermocouple while your contracts walk out the door.
The Holding Game Matters More Now
One thing chains like Church's have figured out is the hold-and-serve model. They're not cooking to order for catering. They're cooking in advance and holding at temp until delivery.
Commercial BBQ operations have always done this to some extent, but I think there's room to get more sophisticated about it. The SC-300 cabinet units — either gas or electric depending on your setup — are legitimately excellent for extended holding. I've seen briskets hold for 6+ hours in those units without losing moisture or developing that warmed-over taste you get from inferior equipment.
That holding capability is actually a competitive advantage against the chains. Church's is holding fried chicken. You're holding smoked brisket that's still in its cooking window. There's no comparison on final product quality, but only if your equipment can actually maintain those conditions.
What I'm Actually Telling Operators Right Now
Don't panic about Church's or any other chain moving into catering. The accounts they're going to take were probably your least profitable accounts anyway.
Do get intentional about pricing. If you're still quoting $10-12 per person for any catering work, you're competing in a segment where you can't win on convenience and you're not getting paid for quality.
Do invest in equipment that supports premium positioning. That means consistent cook quality, reliable holds, and zero tolerance for service failures. I've watched operators try to limp along with aging equipment that's costing them in product quality and stress. That's the wrong move when you're trying to compete on being better than the chains.
The BBQ catering market isn't shrinking. It's segmenting. Church's is going to own the bottom of that market, and honestly? Let them have it. There's plenty of business in the segments they can't touch.
Just make sure your operation is positioned to capture it.
Resources: Southern Pride of Texas | Southern Pride rotisserie smokers | NBBQA
#Brisket #BBQCatering #CommercialBBQ #TexasBBQ #SouthernPrideOfTexas #SmokedChicken #CateringFood
Photo by Atlantic Ambience on Pexels.
About the Author: Travis operates a competition BBQ team and a Gulf Coast food truck, and documents his commercial cooking process for food service professionals.