Red Rooster is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n fast food

Fast food

Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...

 restaurant chain. Red Rooster specialises in selling roasted chicken

Chicken (food)

Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture.- History :...

 and other related products.

History

The Kailis family opened the first Red Rooster store in the Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 suburb of Kelmscott, Western Australia

Kelmscott, Western Australia

Kelmscott is a southeastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Armadale, and it is located southeast of Perth along Albany Highway....

 in 1972. Myer Emporium

Myer

Myer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...

 purchased the business in July 1981. In 1992, Red Rooster bought the Big Rooster chain to expand into the eastern states. These stores were re-branded as Red Rooster. In May 2002, after several years of being owned by Coles Group (previously known as Coles Myer), Red Rooster was purchased by Western Australian company Australian Fast Foods Pty Limited

Australian Fast Foods Pty Limited

Australian Fast Foods Pty Limited based in Balcatta Western Australia is in the takeaway food industry employing 6,956 people Australia wide. As owner of Red Rooster and Chicken Treat it is the joint fourth largest fast food operator in Australia after McDonalds, KFC, and Subway, with 450...

, who owned the competing Chicken Treat

Chicken Treat

Chicken Treat is an Australian barbecue chicken fast food restaurant chain that originated in 1974 in Perth, Western Australia and later expanded throughout Australia....

 fast food chain. Currently there are over 360 Red Rooster stores in Australia represented in all states and territories of Australia

States and territories of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...

 except Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

.

In April 2007, Red Rooster and Chicken Treat were sold by Australian Fast Foods for A$180 million to a consortium formed by the management and the venture capital arm of Westpac

Westpac

Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....

 known as Quadrant Capital.

In April 2009, the Red Rooster chain in New Zealand closed its stores.

Red Rooster employs over 7,500 people.

During 2010, Red Rooster was undergoing a strategic plan, moving company owned stores to franchises. To date the business has achieved a 50% level but aims to have only 100 stores company owned in 2010.

In June 2011, Quadrant Capital sold Quick Service Restaurants, which owns the Red Rooster chain, for AU$450 million to Archer Capital.

Menu

Until the late 1990s the stores were only open from lunchtime until about 9 pm. Since then they have extended trading hours. They have also begun selling low-fat and lower-salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

 products in response to consumer demand for 'healthy' meals.

Red Rooster chicken is generally served as a full portion of chicken, either 1/2 and 1/4 chicken, rather than individual pieces, though it is available. Chips are usually served with the 1/4 and 1/2 chickens as a Classic quarter and Classic half, respectively. Red Rooster serves chips

French fries

French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...

 in a special seasoning.

In 2007, Red Rooster introduced a new product line of fish and chips

Fish and chips

Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...

 and fish related products, the most recent of which being squid, prawns and the Fish Wrap and burgers.

In addition to its chicken and seafood Red Rooster also serves skin free chicken available separately as fillets or with chips, salad, in a baguette or wrapped in a tortilla) as well as "wraps" a Flayva which is mild spicy chicken strips with summer sauce, cheese, lettuce, and tomato) or a Strip Sub, now renamed as the "Rippa Sub" due to new rip open packaging, which has mild spicy strips, with the choice of classic summer sauce, mild chili & garlic aioli or smokey barbecue sauce

Barbecue sauce

Barbecue sauce is a flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking...

 and lettuce, or burgers, these can be a fillet burger which has a fillet, lettuce, tomato and cheese with mayonnaise, a real bacon burger which omits the mayonnaise and tomato for barbecue sauce and 'steak style' bacon or a cheese burger which has a special smaller patty (chicken), tomato sauce and cheese.

New additions include the Ferguson Valley skin free Ultimate or Deluxe burger in response to Mcdonald's premium meat range. This new addition comprises ingredients like sweet onion relish, avocado spread and coon age old cheese.

Marketing and promotions

Over the years, Red Rooster has utilised various slogans and campaigns but they mainly focus on the name "Red Rooster" or at least the word "Red". A popular jingle of the 1980s and early 1990s used the words "Are you Red Red, Ready Red Rooster".

Presently they are using the "It's gotta be red" type slogan and campaign, where Tom Gleeson (an Australian comedian) asks Americans where a Red Rooster can be found, (the ad mostly shows Americans confused about the concept of 'roast' chicken), along with other Australianisms such as mentioning the word "Ute".

In 2010, Red Rooster launched the initiative of social responsibility whereby the company would cease advertising kids meals through any media under an agreement made with The Australian Association of National Advertisers.

In 2011, the brand made a shift to focusing on its healthy, fresh and quick service restaurant appeal. Through this Red Rooster established a new slogan called "Don't think twice" highlighting why a consumer wouldn't have to think about enjoying Red Rooster compared to its competitors.

External links

• Official Red Rooster Website
• Official Red Rooster Catering Website
• Red Rooster Nutritional Information from CalorieKing
  CalorieKing
  CalorieKing is an online weight loss club and software developer with a program centred around healthy eating and exercise . The company offers products and services tailored specifically for the United States and Australian markets...
  
  (an independent site)