Chicken Licken was founded in South Africa by George Sombonos, the son of a Greek immigrant restaurant owner. Sombonos learned the restaurant trade in the 1970s at the Dairy Den, his father's restaurant in Ridgeway, a suburb in the southern Inner City region of Johannesburg. KFC entered the South African market in 1971. Sombonos bought Chicken Licken's secret fried chicken recipe from the owner of a fast food outlet in Waco, Texas, for US $1,000 while touring the United States in 1972 and introduced it to the Dairy Den. In 1975 he started serving black customers in their cars when apartheidsegregation laws restricted their access to restaurants. In 1976 he introduced the drive-through restaurant concept to the Dairy Den after seeing it at Wendy's restaurants in the United States. His father died in 1980 and Sombonos opened the first Chicken Licken restaurant in 1981 on the site of the Dairy Den. In 1982 he gave away the first two franchises, based in Soweto and Alexandra, as the company was still unknown and he was unable to sell them. Chicken Licken's presence in the townships during apartheid helped it to establish a loyal customer base among black South Africans. However, internal resistance to apartheid intensified in the mid-1980s and the company's operations in the townships were adversely affected by civil unrest until 1991. The company's association with the townships has also presented a challenge to growth outside the townships in a changing South Africa. George's daughter Chantal started working at Chicken Licken in 2001, and is next in line to succeed him running the family-owned business.
Locations
Initially, new Chicken Licken outlets were only opened in South African townships. Since the apartheid era ended in 1994, the black middle class has moved out of the townships and the company has changed its focus to expanding in higher income areas and upmarket shopping malls. As of 2013, there are 247 Chicken Licken outlets in South Africa and 12 outlets in Botswana. As of 2012 only 12 of the Chicken Licken outlets in South Africa are owned by the company, including the company's six most successful restaurants. Attempts to establish a presence in other African countries have been unsuccessful. Outlets in Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Mauritius were closed down due to problems with franchisees and the supply of chickens, electricity and foreign exchange for ingredients. Outlets in Lesotho and Swaziland in southern Africa were also closed down due to unpleasant business experiences.
Countries
Botswana – 12 outlets
South Africa – 250 outlets
Branding
In 1981 Sombonos set up Golden Fried Chicken Ltd and registered the trading name Chicken Licken, one of the names of the Henny Pennyfable which was suggested by a waiter. The restaurants and packaging have been upgraded and the menu is updated annually, but the company logo has remained unchanged since 1981. Chicken Licken's products cater to the tastes of the local population. The company's most popular product is its hot wings introduced in 1992. Registered trademarks in South Africa include:
Soul Food
Full house
Hot wings
Popcorn Chicken
Golden Fried Chicken Ltd, trading as Chicken Licken, owns the trademark for the wordsoul in South Africa with respect to "restaurants, snack bars, cafes, fast food outlets, canteens and roadhouses; services connected with the sale and distribution of foodstuffs and refreshments; catering". Chicken Licken's food is positioned as a more affordable option than that of its main competitors in South Africa, KFC and Nando's. Chicken Licken was ranked second after KFC in the Fast Food and Restaurant Chains category of the Sunday Times Markinor 2007 Top Brands Survey, followed closely by Nando's which was ranked second in the previous year. The survey was based on consumer interviews and took into account factors such as brand awareness and trust. Chicken Licken is a client of the Net#work BBDO advertising agency. The brand is known for its humorous television commercials. Early Chicken Licken commercials were conceptualised by and starred actor and creative directorJoe Mafela. Mafela starred in the Zulu television comedy series 'Sgudi 'Snaysi, and authored the company's "It's good, good, good, it's good its nice" jingle during the making of a Chicken Licken commercial in 1986. A subsequent retro style advertising campaign featured Dr CL Phunk, a character played by African-American actor Sydney Hall who dispenses Chicken Licken as a cure-all. In 2007 George Sombonos won the inaugural Creative Circle's Marketer of the Year award for advertising agency clients for "25 Yrs of Soul", a nostalgic commercial featuring the 1983 hit song "Burn Out" by local musician Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse. In 2013 he won the Marketing Leadership and Innovation Award category of the Loerie Awards.
Suppliers
Chicken Licken obtains its chickens from Rainbow Chicken Limited, a JSE-listed company which is South Africa's largest producer of chickens. It has imported chickens from Brazil in the past when Rainbow was unable to meet the demand. It obtains its spices from Robertsons Spices, a Unilever brand of herbs and spices. Chicken Licken uses fryers supplied by Henny Penny, an American manufacturer of cooking equipment used by major fast food companies such as KFC and McDonald's.
