Chick-fil-A’s launching a new café. Will its sales be hotter than failed CosMc’s?

Chick-fil-A says it’s testing out a stand-alone drinks-focused restaurant concept.

Called Daybright, the new concept will open this fall outside Atlanta, Chick-fil-A tells Fast Company. It’s being brought to life by Red Wagon Ventures, a Chick-fil-A subsidiary and business incubator named after founder Truett Cathy’s first business selling Coca-Cola out of a red wagon when he was 6 years old.

“We look forward to sharing more details in the future,” Chick-fil-A says about the concept.

Though there’s not yet a public menu for Daybright, it’s expected to serve coffee, smoothies, and cold-pressed juice alongside a limited selection of food. But sorry, peach milkshake fans, Daybright will not have any Chick-fil-A menu items—and that goes for both food and beverages.

The announcement indicates Chick-fil-A isn’t just looking to compete on chicken sandwiches alone anymore. As fast-food prices have risen and customers have decided to stay home or choose other options, beverages offer restaurants a higher-gross-margin item that it can easily upsell to customers. In other words, drinks are cheap for restaurants to sell, and customers might be convinced to pick up a snack to go with their beverage. The category can also draw in young people during off hours. With Daybright, the chain could also steal market share from the likes of Starbucks and Dutch Bros Coffee by nabbing customers who stepped out for a morning coffee or a quick, cheap snack.

Daybright will arrive as other chains are experimenting and investing more in their drinks too. Taco Bell expanded its beverage offerings over the summer, and though McDonald’s in May shut down CosMc’s, its beverage-first, drive-through concept launched in 2023, it’s taking what it learned from the store to bring to McDonald’s locations in the U.S. and eventually around the world.

For Chick-fil-A, a privately held company that reported $22.7 billion in sales in 2024, the new concept could be a lifeline since its sales growth has slowed. By giving customers a new reason to stop by, even if it’s just for a drink, Daybright could give Chick-fil-A a leg up at a challenging time.

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