ATLANTA, May 31, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- This Sunday, AFC Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:AFCE) will announce the formation of a social entrepreneurship program at the opening ceremony event of Habitat for Humanity International's Jimmy Carter Work Project in Durban, South Africa. AFC and its brands will use their charitable foundation to develop strategic alliances, both domestically and internationally, to foster this initiative.
The program will help bring together AFC's franchisees around the world with small business entrepreneurs, governmental agencies and universities to utilize the power of commerce to improve the quality of life for all involved. The program envisions AFC and its franchisees helping to stimulate local economies by utilizing regional vendors for everything from food products to construction materials. This, in turn, should create more jobs, establish new supply chains, and bring greater investment to developing economies.
"Our goal is that the model AFC develops will in turn be used domestically and in other developing countries to promote economic development and help break the cycle of poverty," said Frank Belatti, AFC Enterprises Chairman and CEO.
The first social entrepreneurship project will involve Steers Holdings, Jersey Ltd., a master franchisee of Church's Chicken in South Africa. Earlier this year, Church's Chicken announced the signing of a master franchise agreement with South African-based Steers Holdings to sub-franchise the development and operation of 100 Church's Chicken restaurants throughout 19 African nations over the next five years. The master franchise agreement awards exclusive rights to Steers Holdings to sub-franchise Church's Chicken restaurants in South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Cameroon. Steers Holdings will be working with AFC, Church's Chicken and other strategic partners to develop a model that will encourage social entrepreneurship in Africa.
Hala Moddelmog, President of Church's Chicken praised Steers Holdings for its work in this arena. "AFC and Church's Chicken will now be able to partner with Steers Holdings to leverage existing franchisee training with the expertise of agencies like Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center to help convert human potential into powerful assets for social change."
The program will focus on helping break the cycle of poverty stimulating job creation and commerce. The company will use its expertise and knowledge in franchising to help deliver results in the countries that it believes has the most potential for change. Together, the creation of businesses and building homes with Habitat for Humanity are examples of what AFC calls social entrepreneurship.
In addition to the social entrepreneurship program, AFC will renew its commitment to Habitat for Humanity. AFC and its brands plan to build an additional 200 homes that will bring its total number of homes built throughout the world to over 500.
Moddelmog added, "Through the building of homes and small businesses, we believe we open the doors to new opportunities and dreams to many more Africans."
About AFC Enterprises, Inc.
AFC Enterprises, Inc. is the franchisor and operator of 3,896 restaurants, bakeries and cafes in the United States, Puerto Rico and 30 foreign countries under the brand names Church's Chicken(TM), Popeyes(R) Chicken & Biscuits, Cinnabon(R), Seattle's Best Coffee(R), and Torrefazione Italia(R) Coffee. AFC's primary objective is to be the world's Franchisor of Choice(R) by offering investment opportunities in highly recognizable brands and exceptional franchisee support systems and services. AFC Enterprises had system-wide sales of approximately $2.6 billion in 2001 and can be found on the World Wide Web at www.afce.com.
About Church's Chicken
Church's Chicken, one of the world's largest quick-service chicken restaurant concepts, specializes in Southern-style chicken and side items such as okra, corn on the cob, Jalapeno Cheese Bombers(R) and its unique Honey Butter Biscuits. With more than 1,500 locations worldwide, Church's Chicken had system-wide sales of approximately $900 million in 2001. Find out more on the World Wide Web at www.churchs.com.
Forward Looking Statement. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of AFC or its brands are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding future events and developments and our future performance, as well as management's expectations, beliefs, plans, estimates or projections relating to the future, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are the cost and availability of our principal food products, labor shortages or increased labor costs, our ability to franchise new units and expand our brands, our and our franchisees' ability to successfully operate existing units and open new units, changes in consumer preferences and demographic trends, competition, general economic, political and regulatory conditions and the risk factors detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and the other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, since those statements speak only as of the date they are made.