US fried chicken giant opens in NZ
United States fried chicken giant Popeyes opened the doors to its first New Zealand restaurant in Auckland yesterday to much fanfare.
The opening brought with it lines of people and cars causing delays on Great South Rd in Takanini all the way back to the motorway off-ramp. Some people were waiting more than two and a half hours outside the Takanini store to get a taste of its Louisiana-style cajun chicken “sandwiches”, others camped outside the store overnight.
A brass band was entertaining would-be diners and Popeyes New Zealand general manager James McLauchlan said just two hours after opening, the fast food giant had already sold “hundreds” of its popular chicken burgers.
The Takanini store is one of a initial 30 planned to open across New Zealand over the next five years.
More stores are in the works and set to open later in the year in East Tamaki, Lower Hutt, Taupō and Hastings.
Popeyes has 3700 stores around the world and plans to open at least eight stores a year in New Zealand over the next few years. It has been working towards a launch in New Zealand for two years, with Tahua Partners, the operator of Burger King and Starbucks, securing the master rights for this market last year.
Long term, Popeyes has aspirations to have between 80 and 100 stores in New Zealand.
Taupō, Auckland, Tauranga and Hamilton will be its immediate expansion focus, along with sites confirmed for Wellington, Invercargill and other undisclosed locations in the South Island.
McLauchlan said the turnout to the opening of Popeyes’ first store had exceeded expectations.
“It’s blown us away how much Kiwis are loving Popeyes today,” McLauchlan said yesterday. “We’re just trying to keep up at the moment, which is a really good problem to have.”
Diners were happy to compare Popeyes to KFC, Restaurant Brands’ well-established market darling. The verdict? Some people thought Popeyes was better.
There was no sign of a cost of living crisis at the Takanini store opening. Fast food has long been viewed as a recession-proof industry, but retail experts say, even though the fried chicken market and demand for that sits in its own league, that is no longer the case amid a prolonged inflationary environment where it now costs a lot more than it once did.
Rising inflation has pushed up the price of ingredients, transport and operational costs and wages to the point where it is no longer being absorbed and price increases are being passed onto the customer.
Even compared to just a few years ago, many New Zealanders are no longer able to indulge in fast food as often as they had done previously - that had become evident by the market had starting to “cannabilise” itself rather than grow, said Chris Wilkinson, managing director of First Retail Group.
“Previously the market was seen as relatively recession-proof as there was relative affordability in the product, particularly in New Zealand, which is a very competitive market,” said Wilkinson.
“Affordability challenges has meant it is losing its competitive edge.”
KFC holds the crown for the most loved - and most amount of fried chicken sold each year in New Zealand - and in recent years fried chicken has been a growing market with Korean fried chicken brand NeNe Chicken and Texas Chicken among new players expanding into the market.
Wilkinson said a number of franchise brands were finding difficulty in the market, namely getting the number of people required through their doors due to strong competition in the market, forcing closures of some sites.