Kim Seung-il, founder and CEO of Kkanbu Chicken / Courtesy of Kkanbu Chicken
Kim Seung-il, founder and CEO of Kkanbu Chicken, is in the spotlight after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an attention-grabbing casual dinner meeting with the heads of two of Korea’s top conglomerates at one of the chicken franchise’s stores in Seoul.
Kim founded Kkanbu Chicken in 2006 by opening its first store in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The franchise fried chicken maker has since rapidly expanded its presence with the opening of its 50th store in 2010. The number topped 200 in 2013, cementing its status as one of the nation’s highly sought-after chicken brands.
Despite the popularity of the company, details about Kim have rarely been exposed to the media. He turned 60 this year, but little else is known about the founder.
Kkanbu Chicken has been basking in the spotlight since Oct. 30 when the head of Nvidia was seen having fried chicken and beer with Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun at one of its stores near Samseong Station in southern Seoul.
At the dinner, Kim personally served chicken to the table of the three business moguls and is said to have cleaned the store before the gathering of the business leaders.
Kkanbu Chicken is now enjoying a heyday after the rare gathering of the three billionaires, with overall chicken orders at its franchise stores steeply increasing over the past week.
In some stores, demand is far exceeding its supply, making it difficult to keep up.
Kim, as the head of the company, has contacted multiple chicken wholesalers to normalize the chicken supply for its franchise stores.
“This is a big opportunity for us, but it can turn into crisis at any moment,” Kim told its employees and franchise owners shortly after the gathering of the three business leaders.
“We need to manage our quality, strengthen sanitization and offer reliable services,” he said.