Latest news with #Oporto
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Oporto restaurants now have a late-night ‘transformation' at 9pm
A popular Aussie fast-food chain has unveiled a new logo for the first time since it opened its doors almost 40 years ago – but you can only see it once the sun has gone down. Oporto, the iconic Portuguese chicken brand, has unveiled a huge shake-up to its restaurants that sees them transform into a completely different venue come 9pm. The burger company has launched its Late Night Menu, offering food not available during the day alongside a switch-up inside too. 'From 9pm stores will flip to 'Night Mode', where the sun sets, the vibe shifts, and a new menu takes over,' Ben Simmons, Oporto's Head of Marketing, told 'The physical transformation of the store includes new signage and a new logo, swapping out the iconic Oporto sun for a moon.' Mr Simmons said the new after-dark offering comes from Australia's 'growing late-night food demand', largely driven by Gen Z. 'People like students, gamers, and shift workers are looking for a feed outside the usual 'dinner' hours, so we thought it was the perfect time to lean in and satisfy those late night cravings,' he explained. 'The inspiration for the late-night menu and campaign draws from Portuguese culture, where dining at night is social and celebratory. This is our nod to that tradition, bringing that Portuguese vibe to Aussie nights. 'For us, turning on Night Mode isn't just about a new menu. It's about creating a fun and satisfying experience that's made for after dark.' Speaking of food, the new menu still 'delivers those bold Portuguese flavours' Aussies have come to know and love about Oporto, Mr Simmons said, 'but with an after-dark twist'. 'It's snackable, shareable and a little indulgent,' he continued. 'Think delicious options like a Portuguese Pulled Chicken Burger, a Schnitt Faced Burger, Pulled Chicken Loaded Chips, Jalapeño Poppers, BBQ Crispy Wings and Salted Caramel Cheesecake. It's bold, craveable, and made for those moments when you want something fun, filling and a little different.' Be warned, the options are pretty heavy calorie-wise, with the loaded chips and the Bondi Night Box – containing a Bondi Burger, two crispy strips, regular chips, dipping sauce plus a can of drink – all coming in at just under 5000kj (nearly 1200 cals). In Australia, daily calorie recommendations vary based on individual factors like age, sex, activity level, and body size, but generally, women need between 1600 and 2400 calories per day, while men need between 2000 and 3000 calories. Despite only kicking off a few days ago, Oporto – which opened its first store in Bondi in 1986 – has been praised for its new offering. 'Later Dinner – Great idea!' one person wrote on social media. 'You know that's me on the way home from a night out,' another said. As another shared: 'Oporto chips are elite.'
News.com.au
16-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Major fast food brand Oporto's ‘dark kitchens' revealed
Dark kitchens have been operating out of dozens of Oporto stores across Australia for several years, selling food under another name at higher prices. The major Portuguese-style chicken chain confirmed to its 'virtual-only food concept' Basted Wings & Burgers was launched during Covid as a 'chance to experiment, test, and adapt quickly, with the opportunity to trial bold new flavours and formats'. Dark kitchens – also sometimes called a virtual restaurant or ghost kitchen – are businesses that sell their food exclusively through delivery. A spokesperson for Oporto said the Basted brand was being 'phased out' over the past 12 months, and would officially close in August. There were 100 Basted restaurants listed on Menulog's website this week, showing operations in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Newcastle, Wollongong, the Gold Coast and Bundaberg. Cross checks for many of the addresses registered for these businesses match the location of local Oporto restaurants. In the Harbour City, Oporto's hometown, addresses for the Bondi Beach, Enmore, Oxford St, Kings Cross and Waterloo restaurants matched Basted locations on delivery apps. An Instagram page, bearing the same Basted branding as used on Uber Eats and Menulog, published its first post on December 8, 2021. It last published a post in February, 2023. One Sydney outlet for Basted advertised itself online as a 'a burger joint that prides itself on a diverse and indulgent menu'. An inspection of menu pictures for all three of Basted's burgers – the Schnitt Faced and Cheeky Cheese & BBQ burgers and their 'legendary spicy burger' the Red Eye – show they appear to be made using Oporto's crispy chicken strips. Prices for the latter two burgers alone are each set at $20.25 on food delivery apps, whereas customers could buy a regular double Bondi burger meal from Oporto on Uber Eats for $22. The Schnitt Faced Burger has a marked price of $16.95. Basted's spicy popcorn chicken, sold for $11.95, also appears to be a similar product as Oporto's chicken bolas. Customers can buy a regular size bolas pack for $7.80 on Uber Eats. Basted also lists loaded fries and a variety of chicken wings on its menu. Oporto acknowledged that 'while some ingredients were shared with Oporto', Basted offered a 'premium virtual offering, with a distinctly American hearty food style menu with unique menu creations, sauces and flavour profiles with different portions'. 'The pricing reflected the distinct positioning and product,' the spokesperson said. Oporto did not respond to questions regarding why the connection between Oporto and Basted had not previously been advertised. Its spokesperson said Basted helped 'connect with new customers who may not have engaged with the brand previously, expanding its reach during a challenging time for the industry'. 'Over the past 12 months, Basted has been slowly phased out, and the platform will officially close at the end of trade on Sunday 10th August. 'Our focus is now on driving customers to our physical stores where they can get the full Portuguese experience, and we can deliver more value for our franchise partners.' One customer took to Reddit last year after ordering food from a Basted only for it to arrive wrapped in Oporto packaging. 'The 'schnitzel' burger was literally two oportos (sic) chicken strips with lettuce, cheese and Mayo,' they said. 'Chips were identical to Oportos (sic). 'I complained and got a refund.' One person weighed in to say they spent time investigating Basted's source to find it was 'just Oporto with some different options'. 'It's annoying too, you can't order it for pick-up or order it in store at Oporto,' they said. 'Also it was annoying because their options for burgers were actually quite nice and should just be on the Oporto menu.' Dr Andy Lee, from the University of Queensland's School of Business, said food companies might have a separate 'division' that specialises in dark or ghost kitchen operations. 'This division could be offered as a service to franchisees as a way to boost their overall revenues,' he said. 'As Oporto is known for its Portuguese-style grilled chicken, offering burgers under a different name (Basted) allow for product diversification without diluting the core brand identity.' Dr Sisi Jiang from the University of Sydney said she and colleagues from the UK have been studying dark kitchens in Australia. Dr Jiang noticed the correlation between Basted and Oporto after scraping the data from Uber Eats and comparing it to Google Maps data. 'We found a lot of Based food outlets (had) no physical food outlet locations,' she said. 'And then when we looked into it, we found that all the menu items look very similar to Oporto.'
ABC News
30-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Feeding time
And finally, as we edge towards a late supper some important culinary news. NICK HOSE: Chicken lovers were in a flap today thanks to a very generous giveaway. A takeaway giant celebrating its Portuguese heritage by offering up to 10,000 free hot chickens … - 7NEWS Border, 10 June 2025 A free bachelor's handbag! Seven News in Albury-Wodonga dispatched the cavalry, as they should, tout suite! DANIEL HERRERO: The crowd flocked into Lavington's Oporto store today. PERSON: I'm here for what everyone else is, you know, the free chicken, I suppose. PERSON: Free chicken day apparently, yeah. - 7NEWS Border, 10 June 2025 It wasn't merely a free chicken day, no! It was a celebration of the 16th Century's naval superpower! DANIEL HERRERO: O'Porto celebrating its Portuguese heritage on the country's national day, Dia de Portugal … - 7NEWS Border, 10 June 2025 The crew at Nine News' Gold Coast bureau brought us more of this most compelling of celebrations: EVA MILIC: Enough to feed a whole family and the best part is, it is free … - 9News Gold Coast, 9 June 2025 Woodward and Bernstein, eat your heart out. With this flame-grilled goodness and cluckin' good giveaway spreading like salmonella from Shepparton in central Victoria to Perth where readers, sorry customers, were urged to get a wriggle on, and even to the nation's capital: "This is about more than just chicken," Canberra Oporto franchise owner … said. By Staff Reporters - The Canberra Times, 6 June 2025 What, no one wanted to put their name on this tour de force? Oh, and sweet-tooths, despair not, because before 'chicken day' there was also 'donut day': Celebrate National Donut Day with FREE cinni donuts thanks to Donut King Get them while they're hot. - 7NEWS (online), 5 June 2025 Hmm hmm! also saw the story's very obvious news value bringing us a National Donut Day dream getaway: Donut King collaborates with Ovolo Sydney for National Donut Day 'Hot Cinni Hotel' experience … for those who prefer their getaways on the sweet side - 23 May 2025 A resplendent pink hue bringing a touch of real class to one clever Sydney hotel which was as our correspondent faithfully reported: … taking inspiration from the famous donut in everything from the pink walls and themed pop art to the plush decor … Each room features a cinnamon donut diffuser … - 23 May 2025 Clears the sinus. But why stop there!? Turns out there are a very great number of national food days to be mined for more sparkling copy and quality programming: MONIQUE WRIGHT: … so today for world pizza day we're celebrating with the culinary classic and learning how to make pizza like an Italian chef … - Sunrise, Network Seven, 9 Feb 2025 There's also World Nutella Day on February 5, which had the scribes all a lather in Ol' Blighty. In fact, the calendar is littered with plenty of cheap excuses for plenty of cheap journalism. From a celebration of real bread, whatever that is, to meatballs, to the holiest day of the year, beer and pizza day. Now, we're all partial to a little soft serve because kittens will always need rescuing from trees and local neighbourhood heroes who pick up litter of their volition will always deserve their moment in the spotlight. But are things really so dire that we're packaging up free ads for deep fried dough and overcooked chook? Because the problem with a race to the bottom is that's where you end up.
Perth Now
04-06-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Australian fast food chain giving away 10,000 free chickens but customers need to get in quick
Run don't walk, Australian fast food chain Oporto will be giving away 10,000 free chickens to celebrate Dia De Portugal. From midday on Tuesday, customers at the chicken restaurant will be able to enjoy their trademark Portugese flame-grilled chicken for free. But there's a catch — those who want to snag the chicken at no charge will need to get in quick, as it will only be on offer for the first 50 customers at each store across the 200 locations in Australia. 'Dia De Portugal, or Portugal Day, is a global event in Portuguese culture and what better way to mark it than with our craveable, Portuguese flame-grilled chicken? It's our way of bringing people together with food, flavour and generosity,' Oporto head of marketing Ben Simmons said. The offer will be available to West Aussies at Perth locations in Balcatta, Bently, Brabham, Canningvale, Joondalup, Karrinyup and South Perth. Anyone who misses out on the free food will still be able to grab the Bondi burger for $5 throughout the day.
The Age
11-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
‘If Wingstop can make it here, it can make it anywhere': The US chicken chain coming to roost
Not a copy and paste, and not just a side dish Founded in Texas in 1994, the chain has made a name for itself by selling buffalo wings in 12 flavours. Listed on US stock exchange Nasdaq, the $US7.5 billion ($11.7 billion) franchise has more than 2500 stores around the world, most based in the US and about 360 in Asia, Europe, Britain and the Middle East. The chain is American but each international market has the freedom to localise the offering. The local team is Australian: Kehl spent three years at Craveable Brands' Oporto and Red Rooster and six years at KFC, and he has earned the nickname 'Chicken Man' from some colleagues and friends. Paech and corporate operations director Jono Spragg have spent most of their careers in pubs and hospitality venues. While the menu will offer the same 12 flavours ranked by spice levels (Hawaiian at the lowest end of the scale, Atomic at the top) available in the rest of the world, the local team, keen to 'Aussify' the offering, is devising a 'secret menu' by combining two flavours. 'It's not a copy and paste of any other global market. We get to put our little Aussie twist on it,' said Kehl. Australia has been in Wingstop's sights since at least 2017, when plans to launch with a different master franchisor fell through. Behind the foray is family office firm JPK Capital, headed by entrepreneur Jonathan Poulin, who brought Wingstop to Canada in 2022 and who has just opened its 15th store. Said Kehl: '[It] has been hugely successful. They're going to open about one store every month. So a very aggressive expansion plan [that] has seen unbelievable growth from day one, and we want to replicate that here in Australia.' Australia's fast food landscape is shifting as homegrown players such as Guzman y Gomez grow and scale aggressively. Appetite for chicken is growing as Australian palates increasingly embrace diverse variations, from Korean-fried chicken to Lebanese chain El Jannah charting their own national growth trajectory. Legacy brands Red Rooster and Oporto are ramping up advertising and Hungry Jack's has played catch-up. But with no major chain focusing specifically on wings, Wingstop fills a gap in the market. 'In Australia, the perception is that it's a side dish, or it's something you get at the pub, whereas the movement globally and driven by the States is that it's its own thing, it's a proper meal, it's centre of plate as the hero,' said Paech. 'That's our challenge, to change that perception and show the local market that that's what we are. You can eat chicken five times a week.' The plan is to set up in every Australian capital city and to have a network of more than 100 stores by 2035. Astonishing demand from culturally diverse areas prompts the team to confirm the chicken is indeed halal. 'People are screaming from these suburbs that we sort of knew would be targets, but that's even making us change and adapt our development schedule to feed the people,' said Paech. 'Western Sydney is a clear leader in the noise that's coming in.' Loading Overseas, Wingstop has partnered with the NBA and linked itself to the hip-hop scene (rapper Rick Ross is an enthusiastic franchisee), something Wingstop is hoping to replicate here by sponsoring local sports teams and giving space for up-and-coming DJs to spin decks. With US President Donald Trump upending the global trade order, is the team worried about any creeping anti-US sentiment? Kehl and Paech shake their heads before the question is even out.
