One of the greatest stories of successful companies in Central America and throughout Latin America is undoubtedly that of the well-known chain of Guatemalan origin, Pollo Campero.

Today it is a fast food chain in which its main specialty is the fried chicken that characterizes it so much and that is widely accepted among the population where these restaurants are located.

Pollo Campero was founded in 1971, and a year later, it began operations in El Salvador under the leadership of a group of entrepreneurs led by Mr. Dionisio Gutiérrez G., the founder of the company. At that time, chicken was not as popular as it is today. Francisco Pérez de Antón thought it was necessary to add something to make it more appealing, allowing for greater profitability and better gains from this product.

He says that at some point the idea came to his mind and he was encouraged to buy a small cart, where he placed a fryer and installed it right in front of a movie theater where a large number of people circulated. He remembers that in the course of a full week he had already sold about 700 fried chickens, something he never thought of, and that is how what would become the great fast-food chain Pollo Campero began in the future.

One of the Gutiérrez brothers, son of businessman Juan Gutiérrez Bautista, turned out to be the owner of the farms where the fried chicken venture began. With an initial investment, this gave rise to what is known today as Pollo Campero in 1971. This was an excellent opportunity to start marketing the products from the farms that Juan Bautista had built.

This is how Pollo Campero became very popular in Guatemala and only a year after being created it expands its horizons and not only has a presence in that country, but also arrives with a local in El Salvador, where it had the same success and popularity it had had in the country that was created.

Juan Jose Gutiérrez Mayorga and Pollo Campero

In 1974 the children of those who were then leaders of the company take over the business due to an unfortunate situation. The business would later become a large consortium, which would be good news for Lisa Juan José Gutiérrez Mayorga, who was appointed to the position of managing the franchise. Thus initiating an important brand, not only for the country, but for all of Latin America.

During the 1990s, Pollo Campero grew impressively thanks to its corporate development and the opening of franchises in 1994. This would make it the first company of Guatemalan origin to create its own franchises, which would give way to to external investors who want to open more Pollo Campero restaurants. In 2002 it arrived with great success in the United States of America, with sales records in its first months.

Worldwide expansion of Pollo Campero

In addition to the United States of America, Pollo Campero has spread to other countries such as Spain, where it started with a franchise in Madrid and currently has 27 restaurants. In 2007 it also entered the Asian continent, opening in two countries, Indonesia and China. It is also found in countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Italy, among others. This has made Pollo Campero one of the most important multilatinas.

To measure a little what it means to be a multilatina, they are cross-border companies that have their capital originating in a Latin American country, but that have economic activities in other countries of the region or even on other continents.

One of the factors that has led to the accelerated growth of multilatinas in recent decades has much to do with different economic reforms carried out in various Latin American countries and the over-saturation of local markets.

Pollo Campero currently has more than 300 locations around the world, and serves more than eighty million dishes in just one year. This is how this fried chicken fast food chain gives rise to one of the most recognized brands in different Central American countries and many other countries around the world. All this would later become part of what is now known as the Multi Investment Corporation, which originates various branches and one of them is Pollo Campero, which gave rise to everything.