Chicken Treat is an Australian

barbecue chicken Barbecue chicken consists of chicken parts or entire chickens that are barbecued, grilled or smoked. There are many global and regional preparation techniques and cooking styles. Barbecue chicken is often seasoned or coated in a spice rub, bar ...

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...

chain that was founded and primarily operates in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. As of December 2022, Chicken Treat has over 60 outlets within

, one in

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...

, and one in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The company provides a range of rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, and burger meals. Chicken Treat also offers catering services for families, groups, and businesses.

History

The founder of Chicken Treat, Frank Romano, entered the barbequed chicken fast food industry in 1973 starting as a store manager for Chicken Spot and later becoming a shareholder of the proprietor West Coast Fast Foods Pty Ltd. Frank then founded Chicken Treat in 1976, with the first store opening in the suburb of Midland. By 1988, the number of Chicken Treat stores had increased to 39. In 1989, Chicken Treat and its main east coast rival,

Big Rooster Big Rooster is a chain of fast food restaurants in Papua New Guinea that specialises in roast chicken. The company began operations in 1987. As of 1992, it was part of a Queensland-based Australian chain of the same name which had four stores in Pa ...

, became allies as

Australian Fast Foods Australian Fast Foods Pty Limited was an Australian fast food company that owned the Red Rooster and Chicken Treat restaurant chains. In 2007 the company was reorganised into Quick Service Restaurant Holdings, now Craveable Brands. The company ...

. In early 2002, the parent company Australian Fast Foods purchased

Red Rooster Red Rooster is an Australian fast food restaurant chain founded in 1972 that specialises in roast chicken, chicken burgers and fried chicken. Their product range includes whole roasts, half roasts, wraps, burgers, salads, beverages and desserts ...

from

Coles Myer Coles Group Limited is an Australian public company operating several retail chains. Its chief operations are primarily concerned with the sale of food and groceries through its flagship supermarket chain Coles Supermarkets, and the sale of li ...

. This was followed by a period of rebranding, changing existing stores in South Australia (which opened in the 1990s) from Chicken Treat to the more established Red Rooster brand, although there are a few areas where the two co-exist, for example in Western Australia. In April 2007, Australian Fast Foods sold Red Rooster and Chicken Treat for $180 million to a consortium formed by the management and the venture capital arm of

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, ...

known as

Quadrant Private Equity Quadrant Private Equity (also simply known as Quadrant) is an Australian private equity investment firm based in Sydney, Australia. The company was founded as Quadrant Capital in 1996 by Chris Hadley. Quadrant hosts multiple investment funds ...

. In early 2011, QSR Holdings acquired the Western Australian

Chooks The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

brand (formerly known as River Rooster), converting said stores into direct-service outlets with no drive-thru service. These stores all carry the newer Chicken Treat branding. In June 2011,

Archer Capital Archer Capital is an Australian private equity investment firm based in Sydney. It was founded as GS Private Equity in 1996. Archer Capital hosts multiple investment funds which invest in businesses across a wide array of industries and sectors, ...

acquired Quick Service Restaurant Holdings from Quadrant Private Equity for an estimated $450 million (including Red Rooster and

Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

). In October 2015, the chain began using "Betty the Chicken" to run the company's

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account in an attempt to secure an entry in the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. The company had over 8,000 followers in 2015 as a result. In 2017, Chicken Treat moved its headquarters from 1 Whipple Street, Balcatta to 71 Walters Dr, Osborne Park, after the name change of it's parent company from Quick Service Restaurant Holdings to Craveable Brands. Whipple Street was the headquarters of Chicken Treat for nearly two decades. Prior to that the headquarters were located at 12 Cleveland Street Dianella, which was destroyed by fire in the early 2000s. In 2018, the restaurant expanded into Melbourne via a delivery-only kitchen offering. In December 2022 the company opened its first outlet in New South Wales at

Eastern Creek Eastern Creek is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Creek is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the Blacktown local government area and is part of the Greater Western Sydney regi ...

. The chain is planning to expand further into the state and the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

References

External links

* {{Chicken chains 1974 establishments in Australia Barbecue restaurants Fast-food chains of Australia Fast-food poultry restaurants Restaurants established in 1974 Restaurants in Perth, Western Australia

History

See also

References

External links