Biscuit Belly Franchising

When&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-coulter-%F0%9F%8D%B3-70053b2a/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=lauren-coulter-biscuit-belly-co-founder-2729890" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Lauren</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-coulter-4663465b/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=lauren-coulter-biscuit-belly-co-founder-2729890" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Chad Coulter</a> entered their careers, working “just” 40 hours a week felt like a breeze compared to the time they’d dedicated during pharmacy school and residency. Fairly quickly, Chad began researching additional opportunities, and the couple opened two “paint and sip”&nbsp; franchises in Louisville, Kentucky. After about two and a half years, they sold those businesses and founded a wine bar and restaurant concept. Then, they began developing&nbsp;<a href="https://biscuitbellyfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=lauren-coulter-biscuit-belly-co-founder-2729890" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Biscuit Belly</a>, a now-quickly growing brunch concept with one of the boldest models in the industry.&nbsp;“Chad left the pharmacy world to be full-time with our businesses, and I went down to part-time,” Lauren said. “I ultimately ended up giving my notice to Humana in December of 2019. I was going to leave in March of 2020 to also be dedicated to the business full-time. My last day at that job ended up being the last day everyone was there — someone got COVID, and 20,000 employees were sent home. Leaving this and stepping into entrepreneurship full-time was terrifying, but having the capacity to devote 100% of my time and energy to what we were building was brand new.”While the Coulters loved the wine bars, they came with a different set of demands. Lauren explains that, with the wine bars, the guests wanted to eat at the same time, but she and Chad wanted to eat as a family. If something went wrong or they needed to step in as owners, the demand often came at inconvenient times. The brunch model didn’t have this setup, and it allowed for better work-life balance.“So, we sold the five wine bars and put all of our eggs in the&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly/info">Biscuit Belly</a> basket,” Lauren said.&nbsp;Now, on a day-to-day basis, she serves as the integrator. Project managing through things like new roll-outs and the implementation of new systems, Lauren works with the team to help figure out which hurdles exist and what she can do to alleviate them.“I’m into the nitty-gritty day-to-day things, and Chad is more of the visionary,” she said. “He has the ideas, and we all work together to make them happen when we can. He and I have very distinct lanes, and I think that’s how we’ve been able to work together so well. We each do what we do, we do it well, and we don’t have a lot of crossover.”While Biscuit Belly is a warm, welcoming and sometimes whimsical brand, it is very clearly grounded in strategy and operational excellence.“We’re way past the ‘fun passion project’ aspect of the venture in the sense that this is our life. This is&nbsp;what we do,” she said. “We’re all in. We want our team to feel the fun and the whimsy, and we definitely want our guests to feel that way. But ultimately, we are a business. When the rubber meets the road, clarity, consistent communications, and treating people well have helped us.”Acknowledging that Biscuit Belly is a young brand, Lauren emphasizes just how important it has been to implement proper systems and maintain strong teams.For example, a few years ago, she led an overhaul of sorts. Even if the team had previously invested in a tool or technology, she wanted to make sure it was providing value “now.” No matter how many insights it provided, if there was no one looking at those insights or if the insights were not actionable, they chose to stop using the program.“We focused hard on hospitality and the guest experience. We have only added systems that will help with that,” she said. “Ovation is a platform that helps us hear from the guests and get feedback — positive or negative — before they take to Google Reviews. It also helps inform how we train our teams and what we focus on from an operations perspective. That has improved the guest experience, and it has helped our operators.”Maintaining a balance of interest in and commitment to evolution and improvement, where possible, while recognizing and welcoming input from other leaders in various fields has helped the Coulters strike a balance and forge a path forward for themselves and the brand.“We’re great with business and people, but we’re not food scientists or experts in restaurant operations. Our formal education is in pharmacy,” Lauren said. “What I love about what we do is that we’re both not afraid to say ‘We don’t have a clue’ or ‘We need a lot of help.’”While this skill is important for anyone considering a career transition like the one the Coulters made, Lauren said it’s especially important — and can be especially inspiring — for women entrepreneurs, specifically.“I’m continually so inspired by how much women are willing to share from a development perspective. I think it’s important to have a group of women to surround you,” she said. “It’s easy to get caught up in the minutia of how we are going to survive where we are right now. When you’re able to get advice from women who are older or more experienced, they really help bring the perspective. They can help you play chess, not checkers, and set you up to make your life better in the long run. I’m always inspired by women who help do that and are willing to share, and as we grow, I’m excited to do the same for other women in the space.”To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly.">https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly.</a>&nbsp;

image of a founder of buscuit belly franchise coffee and bakery business lauren coulter

Pharmacist to Co-Founder: Biscuit Belly’s Lauren Coulter’s Journey

1851 Franchise

Trading prescriptions for biscuits, Coulter leveraged her open-mindedness, drive, flexibility, and the support of other women in the industry to help build one of the South’s boldest brunch brands.

This brand page has been paid for by BISCUIT BELLY FRANCHISING. Content within this page that is paid will showcase a Sponsored icon. This means the brand has engaged 1851 FRANCHISE to write the content. Content without the Sponsored Icon is aggregated media placements the brand earned. Questions can be sent to editorial@1851franchise.com

Lauren Coulter’s Journey From Pharmacist to Biscuit Belly Co-Founder, Powered by Hospitality and Grit

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. —&nbsp;<a href="https://biscuitbellyfranchise.com/">Biscuit Belly</a>, the fast-growing brunch franchise known for its scratch-made biscuits and Southern hospitality, closed out the year with enough signed deals and planned openings to put the brand within reach of 20 operating restaurants by the end of 2026. After signing six leases this year and opening one new location in Summerville, South Carolina, the brand enters the new year with one of the strongest growth outlooks in its history.“We’re at 13 locations now, and we're confident we'll hit that 20-location market by the end of next year,” said CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-c-4663465b/">Chad Coulter</a>. "We’re bringing on additional team members to help get us there because we know it’s there — and we have to execute at a high level.”Throughout 2025,&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly/info">Biscuit Belly</a> focused heavily on building a robust development foundation and aligning new real estate opportunities for the year ahead. The brand’s lease activity this year includes sites across North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas and Ohio, which will expand Biscuit Belly’s presence from six states to nine once they open. Two of the most anticipated locations are in Columbus, Ohio, and Houston, Texas.“The Columbus location will open in the Grandview neighborhood, fairly close to Ohio State’s campus,” Coulter said. “Because of this location, competition for the space was fierce. There were 9 LOIs on the space in the first week, but after talking with the Landlord, she really liked the concept and chose us to move forward. We are working with some branding experts to make this location really pop, as we want it to be our flagship store in the market.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Franchise development also saw meaningful growth this year, including two new multi-unit signings — one in Houston and one across the Florida Panhandle. These groups reflect the type of operators the brand continues to attract as it scales.“One of the groups was a multibrand, multi-unit group in concepts like Auntie Anne’s and Cinnabon,” Coulter said. “They’re very hands-on operators. The individual out in Houston has a ton of retail experience and is building the team around her that’ll really make her successful.”Biscuit Belly also reviewed its operating costs in 2025, updating supplier agreements and shifting to new vendors with lower prices. The company said it also reached substantial reductions in commission rates with major delivery platforms. “Even with the challenges of traffic and inflation, our store-level profitability is as strong as it’s ever been. We will continue to fine-tune the model without sacrificing quality or the integrity of the brand,” Coulter said.Catering has continued to gain traction, now representing 10 percent or more of sales across the system and growing by large double-digit percentages over last year. The brand plans to build on that progress in 2026.“Next year we’re bringing on a first-party catering ordering service and have hired an internal catering sales team to continue that momentum on the catering side," Coulter said.&nbsp;Looking ahead, the company is concentrating on opening the stores already in development and bringing its count to 20 locations by the end of 2026. Biscuit Belly is also working toward adding two or three more multi-unit operators and lining up at least five additional projects for 2027 in the regions where it already has support, including parts of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Texas. Coulter stated that the pipeline is already shaping up very nicely beyond 2026, with a goal of between 25 and 30 locations by the end of 2027.“We want to be smart with what we’re doing,” Coulter said. “We’re not just looking to open stores for the sake of unit count growth.About Biscuit Belly:Founded in 2019 and franchising since 2020, Biscuit Belly opened its first location in Louisville, Kentucky, where it became known for its creative approach to Southern comfort food classics with a focus on large, gourmet biscuit sandwiches. With a chef-cultivated menu, the brand has paired its Southern-inspired offerings with genuine hospitality to create an upbeat, fun environment where guests can enjoy a delicious meal with family and friends. With thirteen locations currently open in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, the brand has a goal to reach 20 open units by the end of 2026. For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://biscuitbelly.com/">https://biscuitbelly.com/</a>.&nbsp;

Biscuit Belly Franchise - End of Year Wrap-Up - 2026 - 1851 Franchise

Biscuit Belly Finishes Year Strong and Looks Ahead to a 20-Unit Footprint in 2026

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After playing a crucial role in the growth of pizza franchise Papa Johns alongside his brother,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-h-schnatter">“Papa John” Schnatter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://biscuitbellyfranchise.com/leadership/chuck-schnatter/">Chuck Schnatter</a>, a long-time member of the brand’s executive team and investor himself, has learned a great deal about what makes a restaurant franchise succeed. A great menu can draw a crowd, but real systems, standardization and strong unit economics are what build a legacy. That’s what he was focused on when he invested in&nbsp;<a href="https://biscuitbellyfranchise.com/">Biscuit Belly</a>, the 13-unit Southern-style breakfast and brunch franchise.“You always have to start with the people. You invest in people first and concepts second,” Schnatter said. “In any company, until you have good leadership, you’re not going to have a good concept.”<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-c-4663465b/">Chad</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-coulter-%F0%9F%8D%B3-70053b2a/">Lauren Coulter</a>, co-founders of&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly/info">Biscuit Belly</a>, caught Schnatter’s attention before the biscuit concept even launched.<h2>A Chef-Driven Foundation and a Resilient, Scalable Model</h2>Schnatter initially partnered with the Coulters on their wine and southern-tapas concept, LouVino. While the concept was successful, the team quickly realized how demanding a chef-driven concept serving the dinner crowd would be. The menu was also so chef-driven that it was difficult to replicate, so they began to pivot. As they thought up Biscuit Belly, the scalability was immediately apparent.“We felt like Biscuit Belly was a much more repeatable concept than LouVino,” Schnatter said. “Once we had the model, even though it was chef-driven, we could duplicate it … franchise it and grow it ourselves.”Schnatter also recognized the power of Biscuit Belly’s unique menu. While the brand is focused on biscuits and other Southern breakfast-style foods, there’s enough diversity to build resilience.“When you’re in pizza, 40 percent of your cost is cheese. So if cheese goes up, your costs go through the roof,” he said. “If you look at our menu, we've got pork, chicken, turkey, eggs, dairy, and wheat. All of those hold about equal weight, so if one goes up, it doesn’t crush our food cost.”<h2>Capturing the Next Wave</h2>Early on in the concept development process, Schnatter also recognized a massive opportunity in market positioning. Biscuit Belly operates in the breakfast and brunch segment, which is not nearly as saturated as the dinner space. And its colorful, vibrant brand identity appeals to a younger demographic that demands an elevated experience.“This isn’t your grandfather’s bacon and eggs,” Schnatter said. “Biscuit Belly is the next wave in breakfast. It’s where 18 to 45 year olds want to be.”Biscuit Belly’s model caters to the “the camera eats first” mentality, and the Instagrammable nature of the food lends itself to social sharing. This is another key driver of brand awareness, turning everyday guests into promoters of the brand — another differentiator Schantter recognizes and loves.In addition to great food and strong potential in the market, Biscuit Belly’s ability to get into the industry when it did, with a model as strong as it has, has positioned it to capitalize on this “next wave.”<h2>The Quality of Life Benefit</h2>One of the most important advantages Biscuit Belly offers its operators is a more balanced lifestyle. In the traditional restaurant world, much of the demand occurs on nights and weekends, and operators must adjust accordingly. This can be draining for owners, and it can also make staffing difficult.&nbsp;Biscuit Belly, however, flips this dynamic entirely. Closing in the early afternoon all week, owners benefit from more free time and a one-shift model that makes staffing easier and boosts employee retention.“Whether you’re an owner or employee, you’re out of there by 3:30 on a Friday. You can still go to your kid’s basketball game or make it to a concert,” Schnatter said. “You can have a life where you’re getting out of work when everyone else in the restaurant world is just arriving at work.”<h2>A Blueprint for Growth</h2>For Schnatter, the decision to back Biscuit Belly is based on a recognition of infrastructure and the potential for explosive growth. Whether growing from location one to two or 2,000 to 2,001, Schnatter says the growth process requires the same rigorous discipline.By applying the hard-won lessons of the pizza industry to the breakfast and brunch industry, Schnatter is supporting Biscuit Belly in its strategic approach to national growth.“I understand what it takes to run a restaurant company and finance a restaurant company. And I’ve been a franchisee with Papa Johns, so I’ve interacted with systems from both the franchisor and franchisee standpoint,” Schnatter said. “The same concepts apply whether you’re selling coffee, chili, pizza or biscuits. The fundamentals are the fundamentals, and you’ve got to follow them.”To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly">https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly</a>.&nbsp;

Photo of Chuck Schnatter inside Biscuit Belly location

Why a Former Papa Johns Executive Invested in Biscuit Belly Franchising

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Restaurants have lived with the same equation for years: ingredients rise, guests push back on price and margins erode.&nbsp;<a href="https://biscuitbellyfranchise.com/">Biscuit Belly</a>, the fast-growing brunch franchise known for its scratch-made biscuits and Southern hospitality, has chosen a different path. Instead of passing costs to customers, the breakfast-and-brunch brand treats cost of goods as a controllable system — one that can be redesigned with smarter sourcing, tighter procurement and precise, kitchen-level changes that guests never notice.“[COGS] is one of your biggest costs other than labor. It can affect profitability and your ability to continue to expand within the brand,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-c-4663465b/">Chad Coulter</a>, founder and CEO of&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly/info">Biscuit Belly</a>. “To offset that, you have to raise prices. However, consumers are tired of spending more money and they’re starting to get sticker shock.”<h2>A Portfolio of Ingredients, Not a Single-Commodity Bet</h2>Biscuit Belly avoids being hostage to any one commodity. Its highest-volume purchases span potatoes, dairy, eggs, produce, chicken, beef, turkey and pork. That diversity acts like a shock absorber when a single commodity experiences a spike. Operators in narrow categories can get whipsawed when one input moves. Biscuit Belly’s broader basket spreads risk across the P&amp;L and steadies margins through swings.“If you own a burger or chicken-focused restaurant and your most purchased protein increases in price substantially, you get crushed,” Coulter said. “For us, if one thing goes up, it’s not really going to affect you.”<h2>Procurement as Partnership</h2>With risk distributed, Biscuit Belly went after unit economics. The team renegotiated its broadline agreement, added an outsourced procurement partner and kept multiple suppliers in play. Those steps do more than shave dollars off case prices; they align incentives so vendors invest in the system’s growth. When suppliers believe the brand will open more doors, they are more flexible on terms today to earn volume tomorrow. That mindset extends beyond food into disposables and paper, where basis-point improvements compound at scale.<h2>How Biscuit Belly Found Savings Guests Never Notice</h2>Biscuit Belly has made inflation an opportunity to sharpen its recipes without sacrificing quality. By reengineering menu items, the brand built a more efficient kitchen model that safeguards both margins and flavor.“We were able to switch our biscuit mix to a different manufacturer and save 40 percent on one of our top-five items,” Coulter said. “We shifted the ratio of our melted butter, heavy cream and a couple of other ingredients in our biscuit mix and saved six or seven cents a biscuit. It had zero impact on the final product because we tested it many times over several months.”<h2>Agility That Shows Up on the P&amp;L</h2>Lean decision-making lets the brand move faster than larger systems. Menu tests run quickly, LTOs pivot in weeks rather than years, and supplier switches roll out without operational churn.&nbsp;“We’re extremely nimble,” Coulter said. “We can pivot and test, and pivot again and test again until we get it right fairly quickly.”When eggs spiked, a distributor’s local farming contract muted the hit. When disposables crept up, a paper distributor change delivered a 20 to 30 basis-point improvement. The cadence is constant: watch the market, test alternatives, lock in savings.<h2>What It Means for Franchisees</h2>Lower, steadier input costs reduce the need for aggressive price increases and the traffic risk that follows. Biscuit Belly’s playbook — diversified ingredients, negotiated scale, recipe-level engineering and speed — turns inflation from a headwind into a margin opportunity. It’s not a one-time fix but a discipline embedded in leadership focus and field feedback. For owners, that means a model built to protect profitability in a volatile economy, not just in ideal conditions.To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly">https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly</a>.

Biscuit Belly Franchise - Cost of Goods Sold - Inflation - 1851 Franchise

Cracking the Code on Costs: How Biscuit Belly Found Efficiency in an Era of Inflation

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. —&nbsp; <a href="https://biscuitbellyfranchise.com/">Biscuit Belly</a>, the fast-growing brunch franchise known for its scratch-made biscuits and Southern hospitality, is seeing major momentum. The brand has started development on six new restaurants across the Southeast — three franchised locations in the Florida Panhandle and three corporate joint-venture stores in Wake Forest and Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Peachtree City, Georgia.The new signings bring together seasoned franchisees and reinvestment from&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/biscuit-belly/info">Biscuit Belly’s</a> own leadership, a sign of the team’s belief in the brand’s direction and future.“Florida has been on our radar since the very beginning,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-coulter-4663465b/">Chad Coulter,</a> co-founder and CEO of Biscuit Belly. “With its year-round tourism, it’s an incredible branding opportunity — you never know who might stop in, love the experience and want to bring it to their hometown."Multi-brand franchise partners Clint Dollar and Dave Gardner, who collectively own more than a dozen Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery and Charleys Cheesesteaks locations, have signed a three-unit agreement to open in Pensacola and Panama City Beach. After years of operating primarily in malls, Dollar and Gardner were drawn to Biscuit Belly’s single-shift breakfast model."We talked about the breakfast model for years. We loved the lifestyle that closing in the early afternoon could provide,” Gardner said. “It allows us a little more work-life balance, and it allows us to appeal to a different employee base. All of that has led us here.”Their first Biscuit Belly is opening in 2026, with the other two expected to be open by 2027."We are thrilled to have Clint and Dave in the system,” Coulter said. “They have many years of experience and they’ve already been very impressive in terms of how involved they’ve been and how quickly they are looking to get open, which is great.”In addition to the Florida expansion, Biscuit Belly is investing alongside partners to open three new joint-venture locations in Wake Forest and Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Peachtree City, Georgia. The company’s founders and core leadership team are personally contributing capital to the projects.“We believe in what we’re building, so we’re putting our own dollars into these ventures,” Coulter said. “It’s a slower, more deliberate approach — we’re selective about sites and franchisees — but it’s about long-term sustainability, not just selling deals. We’d rather grow the right way. We have these and a few more locations we’re looking to execute agreements on that will be announced soon.”With 13 locations already open across Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, Biscuit Belly is on track to nearly double its footprint with projects now underway and leases in progress in Texas, Ohio and several additional Southeast markets.“People everywhere love great food and a fun, welcoming experience,” Coulter said. “When you deliver that, it travels anywhere — and we’re excited to keep bringing Biscuit Belly to new communities.”About Biscuit Belly:Founded in 2019 and franchising since 2020, Biscuit Belly opened its first location in Louisville, Kentucky where it became known for its creative approach to Southern comfort food classics with a focus on large, gourmet biscuit sandwiches. With a chef-cultivated menu, the brand has paired their Southern inspired offerings with genuine hospitality to create an upbeat, fun environment where guests can enjoy a delicious meal with family and friends. With thirteen locations currently open in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia the brand has several more stores under construction. For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://biscuitbelly.com/.">https://biscuitbelly.com/.</a>&nbsp;

Biscuit Belly Expands Across the Southeast U.S. With Six New Locations

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Lauren Coulter’s Journey From Pharmacist to Biscuit Belly Co-Founder, Powered by Hospitality and Grit

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