Lee’s Famous Recipe® Chicken makes chicken sandwich "Peace, not War" with $10,000 donation to World Central Kitchen

SHALIMAR, Fla. (July 12, 2021) – Lee's Famous Recipe® Chicken made a $10,000 donation today to support the work of World Central Kitchen as a "PEACE" offering in the hotly debated chicken sandwich wars. The Lee’s "Make Chicken Peace, Not War” outreach began as a light-hearted way to approach trending food service news when a flood of chicken sandwich introductions by competing brands was dubbed the “chicken sandwich wars.”

“As the world was changing last year, Lee's introduced two versions of a new chicken sandwich around the same time competitors were announcing their own new chicken sandwich offerings. To create a positive outcome in what many saw as a battleground in the chicken sandwich wars, Lee’s decided to declare peace through a donation to the food-related philanthropic work of World Central Kitchen,” said Ryan Weaver, Lee’s CEO. “Lee’s shared news of the campaign through the media, created tie-dye t-shirts for team members, and worked with influencers to get the word out about bringing peace to the chicken sandwich wars through today’s donation.”

Weaver presented the “chicken peace” check virtually to World Central Kitchen’s Lisa Abrego and Maggie Leahy who shared that the money would be used to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond.

In communities around the country and in Canada, Lee's franchisees and operators have been serving fresh, never frozen chicken and homestyle products for more than 55 years. The new chicken sandwiches have been the most successful product launch for Lee’s in more than 20 years. The brand was recently sold to Artemis Lane Partners that has plans to grow Lee’s footprint beyond its current 130 units as well as continue to develop and offer new products. To join Lee’s Famous Recipe® Chicken in supporting the work of World Central Kitchen, visit wck.org/leeschicken