“Creating Mutual Growth Through Community Sharing” ... bb.q Chicken Yeouido Station Branch Owner Receives Government Industrial Service Merit Medal

[Financial News] A Genesis BBQ Group franchisee received a government award in recognition of contributions to developing customer-tailored menu items, sharing with the local community, and fostering mutually beneficial cooperation between headquarters and franchisees.
According to industry sources on the 5th, Lee Hyun-ju, the franchisee who operates Genesis BBQ Group’s bb.q Chicken Yeouido Station branch, received the Industrial Service Merit Medal at the 2026 Government Awards Ceremony for Contributions to the Development of the Food and Restaurant Industry, held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 4th.
The Industrial Service Merit Medal is a government award presented to people with distinguished records of contributing to industrial development. The franchisee, who is in the 21st year of operating bb.q Chicken’s Yeouido Station branch, was recognized for contributing to the development of the food service industry through customer-focused menu development, training new franchisees, promoting communication between headquarters and franchisees, and community-sharing activities.
The franchisee helped turn ideas gathered through direct conversations with customers at the store into new menu items for bb.q Chicken. One notable example is the single-serving menu “Happiness for 10,000 Won.” In 2018, the franchisee proposed a single-serving menu to headquarters for customers who found it difficult to order a whole chicken on their own, and bb.q Chicken responded by introducing a single-person set consisting of chicken and side dishes. 
The franchisee has also continued to support the local community. Together with the franchisee, bb.q Chicken served a New Year’s lunch to around 200 older adults at a free meal center in Yeouido, Seoul, and donated 5 million won to help purchase food ingredients. The Yeouido Station branch regularly donates chicken to low-income neighbors through the Yeouido Community Service Center and was designated by the Seoul Welfare Foundation as a “Beautiful Neighbors, Our Neighborhood Sharing Store.”
A bb.q Chicken representative said, “We will continue to actively incorporate our franchisees’ voices into our menus and services, and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation so that the experience and know-how gained in the field can contribute to bb.q Chicken’s competitiveness as a whole.”
[email protected] Park Kyung-ho Reporter