Latest news with #Oporto
Perth Now
7 days ago
- 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.
Sydney Morning Herald
11-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘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.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Disability rights advocates urge to raise wages for attendants
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Hours before the Texas Legislature reaches its March 14 deadline to file any bills for the 89th legislative session, advocates for the disabled community rallied to call on the state to increase wages for personal care attendants, who people with disabilities depend on for their everyday needs. 'Personal care attendants and people with disabilities demand their fare share of the pie!' That was the rallying cry from advocates who used Pi Day – celebrated on March 14 – as a parody to voice their concerns. Members of the Volar Center, The Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas, and the El Paso Desert ADAPT – a disabled rights advocacy group – demanded that the Texas Legislature increase the minimum wage for personal care attendants from $10.60/hour to $20/hour, to help alleviate a shortage and high turnover in the workforce. 'Right now, these individuals don't get anything. They don't get benefits, they don't get time off, they don't get holidays. We work 365 days a year for $10.60 an hour. Sometimes, these clients don't have enough hours. And so, you're going from one side of the city to the other side of the city just trying to make ends meet,' Roberto Oporto, the purchasing coordinator for the Volar Center for Independent Living, said. Oporto has been a personal care attendant for decades and said he went into the workforce to care for his mother, who became handicapped due to an accident. 'Right now, attendants don't have livable wages and that's why there is a big turnover or a big issue with the recruitment and retention of the attendance workers. Not only can they get better wages at other places like working at restaurants, they also get benefits. They also get vacation time. They also get sick leave and things that our attendants don't obtain right now,' Josue Rodriguez, an organizer with El Paso Desert ADAPT, said. 'I've never had so much trouble trying to recruit an attendant to assist me. Sadly, the base wage for attendants in Texas is not nearly enough at $10.60 per hour. We've got to have $20 per hour to adequately compensate attendants for the vital work they perform daily,' Luis Enrique Chew, Executive Director for the Volar Center, said. Advocates also shared concerns that many people with disabilities are struggling to find accessible and affordable housing. 'You can't go down the street any day without seeing a number of people with disabilities in need of housing,' Rodriguez said. Advocates also spoke on the federal government's attempt to cut Medicaid funding and programs that the disabled community heavily depends on, even as funding remains scarce. 'We are very concerned (at) the lack of understanding from the Department of Government Efficiency. There's about 600 centers for Independent Living across the nation. We provide five core services: Independent living skills training, advocacy, nursing home relocation, transition services, and sensitivity training with the ADA,' Chew said. 'We provide a lot of independent living skills so people with disabilities can live out in the community instead of institutions such as nursing homes…people with disabilities deserve to live their life like anybody else.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
