OPORTO (RESTAURANT)

'Oporto' is an Australian-based fast-food franchise which specializes in Portuguese style chicken (properly known as ''Galinha à Africana''), burgers and spicy chili sauce. Oporto has more than 85 stores across Australia and New Zealand and was named the fastest growing franchise in Australia in January 2005 by ''Business Review Weekly''. Oporto’s slogans include ''"Just Gotta Go!"'' and ''"Legendary Sauce with Irresistible Force"''.
Oporto is named after Porto, Portugal's second largest city.
In July 2007, Oporto was purchased for $60M (AUD) by Quadrant Private Equity and QSR.

Contents

Restaurants

Food

Identity & Marketing

Media

Awards

QSR Takeover

See also

References

External links

Restaurants

The first Oporto restaurant, originally named ''Portuguese Style Bondi Charcoal Chicken'', was founded in 1986 by Antonio Cerqueria, a Portuguese immigrant, in North Bondi, New South Wales.
Oporto first opened a franchise store in 1995, and as of 2007, now has 74 locations in New South Wales, as well as 10 in Queensland, 5 in Victoria, 3 in ACT, 2 in South Australia and 6 in New Zealand. Some of these restaurants are called ''Oporto Express'' and offer a smaller range of products - most commonly this means they do not offer a breakfast menu. Many Oporto stores are halal to cater for the members of the Muslim community.
In 2004, it was announced that Oporto would look to open stores in the United States and the United Kingdom^[1] as future expansion of the Oporto chain.
In 2005, Oporto had reached its 10 year anniversary in franchising with over 50 stores opened at that time.^[2]
The investment cost to start up an Oporto franchise in Australia is between $300,000 and $425,000^[3].

Food

Oporto’s chili sauce is its speciality and is available on every chicken product. The chilli sauce is a Portuguese piri-piri sauce made from chili, ginger, lemon and garlic. Oporto’s most distinguishing product is the 'Bondi Burger', a double fillet chicken burger with chili sauce, named after Bondi Beach, Oporto's original location. The burger comes in a no-chili variant called the 'Norm Burger', along with the 'Otropo Burger' which includes pineapple and bacon, The Otropo Burger takes its name from the word "tropical", and is also "Oporto" spelled backwards.
In recent times, Oporto employees have been required to ask if a patron wants chilli in their meal, regardless of whether the meal would normally come with chilli (such as the Bondi burger) or not. The reason given is that it is to avoid an incident involving an allergy to chilli.

Identity & Marketing

Oporto describes itself as a wholly-owned Australian company. Elements of beach culture are incorporated into the restaurant's identity as a result of the original Oporto restaurant being located near Bondi Beach. Its flagship burger is the Bondi Burger, named after Bondi Beach itself. In addition, Oporto’s logo is a sun and its advertising frequently includes images of beach culture, particularly young people in swimwear or carrying surfboards. Oporto uses colloquial words in the names of its products such as Brekkie Burger, Norm Burger and Kiddo Burger.
The franchise distances itself from the perception that fast-food is unhealthy by promoting its chicken as ''"fresh not frozen, grilled not fried"''.

Media

★ In January, 2006 a prisoner escaped from Long Bay jail after dieting and slipping through the bars but was caught three days later on the steps of Oporto Bondi Junction. Oporto used this as promotion on its website in a tongue-in-cheek way, claiming that it was proof that Oporto’s chili sauce really is "irresistible."^[4][5]

Awards

Oporto has received a number of awards including The Restaurant and Catering Association of NSW - ‘George Mure Memorial Award for Excellence in Professional Development’ and ‘Best New Training Program Award for Excellence’ in 2004.^[6]

QSR Takeover

In July 2007, Quadrant Private Equity and QSR ''(which owns Red Rooster and Chicken Treat)'' purchased Oporto for $60M (AUD).^[7]

See also

★ Nando's - A Portuguese style chicken restaurant of African origin.

★ Red Rooster - An Australian chicken restaurant chain associated with Oporto.

References

1. http://www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au/articles/d6/0c0296d6.asp
2. Ruling the roost Anthony Huckstep
3. http://www.franchisebusiness.com.au/Franchise/Oporto-Franchising
4. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/01/21/1137734177307.html?from=top5
5. http://www.oporto.com.au/Main.aspx?p=Content.aspx?ID=29
6. http://www.rcnsw.asn.au/fft/Food%20for%20Thought.art26.pdf
7. QSR completes m Oporto deal - Inside Retailing online, ''18 July 2007''

External links

★ Oporto - Official Site

★ Oporto Nutritional information from CalorieKing.com.au