It’s a Western Australian favourite, and now Chicken Treat has broken borders and opened its first store on the east coast.

The popular brand unveiled its unique blend of tasty crunchy chicken served up with a dash of superhero style at its inaugural store, at Eastern Creek in Western Sydney.

A second restaurant opens in Sydney’s north shore at Crows Nest in January. And that’s just the beginning of the good news! 

Chicken Treat has a 33-store expansion strategy to implement over the next 18-24 months. That means more stores, and more franchisees able to leverage the success of this fast food sensation.

CEO Mimma Battista has for eight years been leading the mission to take the brand to new territories. She’s keen to give more Australians the chance to taste the legendary chicken flavours.

“We’re thrilled to be expanding to the East Coast with two stores opening in Sydney and sites secured in the ACT, to open early in 2023,” Mimma says.

With the Eastern Creek business getting off to a flying start, she’s excited about the opportunity to spread the word in Sydney.

“We’re so happy they’re getting to experience what WA locals have loved for decades,” she says.

“It’s not often that a WA brand exports to the east coast, so there’s a bit of excitement,” says Mimma.

In fact WA Premier Mark McGowan even tweeted his support for the Chicken Treat expansion.

It’s a move that’s made WA expats happy too. One customer drove 80km to buy four chicken rolls from the Eastern Creek store because he loved the brand so much!

Chicken Treat’s success – you can’t wing it

Chicken Treat is thriving, with continued strong growth over the past five years, says Mimma.

And that’s not down to chance. It takes a robust strategy, business smarts, leading technology, great people and a fabulous product.

Mimma points out that chicken is Australia’s favourite protein with the average annual consumption 46kg.  

“Our story is about great tasting chicken, and convenience,” she says.

This is a franchise loaded with experience gained since its launch back in 1976. As a mature, iconic brand, Chicken Treat earned a major refresh to prime it for national expansion.  

“It’s important to contemporise an iconic brand,” says Mimma. “When you come into store, you’ll see we have fun with the brand and with the food but we’re serious about quality and taste.”

The brand is serving crunchified chicken, burgers, wraps and rolls, rotisserie chicken, sides and desserts, all in a fun, family-friendly setting. The bright, dynamic store design speaks to a more youthful customer. 

“Over last three years we’ve successfully shifted our customer target audiences. Now we are resonating with a much younger cohort who are up for anything,” says Mimma.

“We’ll hold our own space in the different market,” she says of the east coast expansion. “Feedback from our first opening is that we offer something different for customers.”

Backed by a powerhouse business

While Chicken Treat’s Sydney expansion is new territory for the brand, it’s familiar ground for the chain’s sibling brands, Oporto and Red Rooster. All three operate under parent company Craveable Brands.

Access to a powerhouse business like Craveable means support at all levels for franchisees – such as finding and building the restaurant site and helping reduce delays in restaurant openings. 

“We do a lot of things to mitigate delays in getting equipment. It is pre-ordered in advance and we’re housing the equipment,” says Mimma. 

Today there are more than 55 stores throughout WA. Last year the business began rolling out the “latest and greatest” restaurant designs and menus, and the entire existing network will sport the vibrant new look by the end of 2023.

Within six months Chicken Treat will boost its footprint with another nine franchised stores.

“We have a really healthy pipeline of franchisees. We will concentrate on NSW and ACT, opening April/May in the capital, and infill through there. 

“The plan is to have clusters in each area, so the brand builds in those markets,” says Mimma.

“We can’t wait to introduce Chicken Treat to the people of Sydney and beyond.”