Meet The Billionaire Guatemalan Family Taking On Chick-Fil-A

Over 103 years, three generations have built CMI into one of Latin America’s largest food conglomerates. Now their Pollo Campero restaurant chain is set to expand across the U.S.

_{By Jonathan Ponciano, Forbes Staff}

On March 15, a yellow chicken mascot named Pollito (Spanish for chick) wearing a rust-colored sombrero, white chef uniform and cravat descended upon Times Square and began waving to bystanders before heading to the Port Authority and Herald Square, where Guatemala-based fast food chain Pollo Campero was opening its first Manhattan locations. Inside the restaurants, nostalgic Spanish-speaking families, including many immigrants from Central America, feasted on empanadas and fried chicken breasts—breaded with a generations-old family recipe. Meanwhile, curious Americans, hungry for chicken sandwiches, inquired about unfamiliar menu offerings like horchata (a sweet drink made of white rice) being sold alongside the to-be-expected yuca fries.

For decades, Pollo Campero has had a cult following in Latin America. The chain’s bright yellow bags and distinct aroma are a staple on flights to the U.S. from Guatemala and El Salvador. Its parent company, 103-year-old Corporación Multi-Inversiones, has quietly grown into one of Latin America’s largest conglomerates, making the Guatemalan family that owns it worth $3 billion, by Forbes’ estimate. Now, CMI is ready to make its presence felt in the U.S by seizing on Americans’ fast-food chicken obsession to fuel its already impressive growth.