110 | RETAIL Empire Chicken T T Rosa Watson From humble food truck to fried chicken empire Empire Chicken has looked at how different cultures were cooking fried chicken, such as Korean, European and of course American. A bold move to take on the fried chicken market in Christchurch is paying off for its owners, with new restaurants opening across the city. Empire Chicken founder Jayden Smith is excited to be opening a fourth premises on Lincoln Road this year, five years on from starting the business with a food truck. He had been in the hospitality industry for over a decade before making the move to start his own business. He was looking for something niche that wasn’t being done anywhere else. “I found that fried chicken didn’t have many large restaurant offerings other than KFC “I nailed down that we were going to do and then spent five or six months playing around with the recipe, getting it to where I wanted.” He spent time on YouTube and diving into recipe books. He even engaged with companies in the United States that were producing industry-leading fried chicken. His aim was to use the whole chicken and not just portions, which would improve yield results, and looked at how different cultures were cooking fried chicken, such as Korean, European and of course American. “The nostalgic part of it is to get it close to KFC but not being KFC.” Jayden started off five years ago with a food truck that would travel around events. “The food truck was an opportunity to find the cheapest way into the industry.” It was also a brilliant way of marketing the business and building up a brand name. Eighteen months later in September 2019 he opened a stall at Riverside Market in central Christchurch. He had only been in operation for five months when the COVID pandemic hit, closing all food outlets for a time. “To date we’ve had more time disrupted by COVID than normal time.” To cope, he “changed the model significantly” and managed to maintain a quality product and keep all of the team on board. Flash forward to 2023 and there is now a “The food truck was an opportunity to find the cheapest way into the industry.” restaurant in Papanui that opened in January, and a prep kitchen in Philipstown, managing Uber Eats meals and prepping food for the restaurants. There are 25 staff employed over these sites, with the company turning over $30,000 a week in deliveries alone. Chicken is sourced from Van Den Brinks Poultry, and as much ingredients are sourced locally as possible. And in exciting developments, Empire Chicken will open its flagship restaurant on Lincoln Road this year. It will have plenty of seating, car parking and had a nice and central location, Jayden said. Meanwhile, the food truck keeps busy, with around five events during the summer and one or two in the winter. It attends all NPC and FPC rugby games and some club rugby home games. Jayden uses his business to give back to some of the community organisations he was involved with in the past. Empire Chicken is a Canterbury Rugby major sponsor and the name is displayed on all players ’shirts. It also sponsors 24-7 YouthWork, Jayden having also been a youth worker in the past, while cheffing in the evenings and weekends. For the future, Jayden is dreaming big. “By the time we hit year 10 we want to see restaurants in every major centre in the country. So, we’re working on that. “The goal is definitely to take it everywhere, and whether it takes off overseas is yet to be determined.” Part of that success would be building up a great team, he said. “It’s about bringing people up ... and getting them into a senior role. “It’s about understanding people’s mentality and making sure they have a reason to stay.” • Residential New Builds • Alterations & Renovations • Design & Planning • Project Management • Commercial Construction From new construction projects to renovations you can trust DGI Morgan Ltd for reliable, turnkey construction solutions. 021 198 1216 admin@dgimorgan.co.nz www.dgimorgan.co.nz Here at D.G.I. Morgan Ltd we offer competitive pricing and deliver incredible results on schedule and aim to exceed our client’s expectations. • Commercial Maintenance • High-End Interior Fit Outs • Custom Timber Joinery • Metal fabrication • Insurance Work
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