A full-scale repositioning strategy has paid off for Australian fast-food chain Chicken Treat, with the brand reporting its strongest sales performance in years.

Competition in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector has tightened of late, marking the latest result as an impressive return for the Western Australian based franchise.

Mimma Battista, Chicken Treat CEO said the brand had worked tirelessly to generate new store growth and improve in-store sales.

“Since the mining crash our team have been working tirelessly to turn our brand around and I am thrilled to report that Chicken Treat has registered its highest sales in five years and positive growth for 18 consecutive months,” Battista told Inside Franchise Business.

Repositioning

The latest announcement comes after Chicken Treat engaged in a large-scale repositioning project, identifying a number of customer touchpoints that needed updating.

Battista said the Chicken Treat team had focused primarily on store design and product offering to help bolster in-store performance at the chain’s franchised outlets.

“From a reputation as a mature brand, Chicken Treat’s reinvigoration reflects a brand focused on “people” brought together by the love of chicken,” she said.

“It’s a new era for Chicken Treat with the launch of its exciting new store design which will be rolled across the network in the coming 12 months. From a product perspective –our unique product offering combined with a new brand positioning differentiates us from other brands in the marketplace.”

Chicken Treat expands

With sales on the march and a new strategy under its belt, Battista also revealed another network announcement. Chicken Treat is set to expand, identifying a number of new locations at home in Western Australia, with plans to launch nationwide.

“As a result of the brands success, Chicken Treat is expanding,” Battista said.

“Ten new stores will open across Western Australia in the next 12 months with four already under construction, and there are plans to launch the brand nationally in the next three to five years.”

The Chicken Treat CEO said a growing demand for premium chicken products had also helped to establish a strong platform for growth, but therein lies the challenge.

“Chicken is Australia’s favourite protein. Australians per capita consume around 49 kilograms of chicken annually, compared with 27 kilograms of pig meat, 26 kilograms of beef and 8 kilograms of sheep meat,” she said.

“This is a highly competitive category with most burger QSR’s expanding into chicken and new players entering the market.  The key is to differentiate your brand, offer great quality, value for money, while being authentic to your brand promise.”

Craveable Brands updates

The Chicken Treat expansion announcement follows a string of positive results for parent franchisor Craveable Brands, which also owns fellow QSR franchises Oporto and Red Rooster.

In July, Inside Franchise Business revealed that Craveable Brands had been sold to private equity buyout firm PAG Asia Capital, just days after announcing Chicken Treat stablemate Oporto had signed a master franchise agreement in Vietnam.

The backing of PAG Asia Capital is certain to bolster all three brands moving forward, with Battista confirming Chicken Treat’s primary target is franchise growth.

“A commitment to delivering the best brand and business model to franchise partners while delivering quality and fun products to customers has seen Chicken Treat thrive and perform at record sales levels,” she said.

We continue to innovate in this space with some incredible new products launching later this year… expansion is our plan.”