Learn more about Red Rooster's newest offerings and how it plans to modernise its brand
QSR Media sat down with Red Rooster CEO Chris Green to ask about the brand's latest Roast Chicken Pie offerings, as well as how it plans to modernise and transform the brand into the "Most Loved Aussie Restaurant".
Red Rooster unveiled its the Roast Chicken Pie for the winter. The pie can be stacked with mash, mushy peas and gravy, and comes in two variants: The Roast Chicken Pie, or the Roast Chicken Cheese and Bacon. Currently, 360 Red Rooster restaurants across the country are selling Roast Chicken Pies and over 190 restaurants offer delivery.
QSR Media: What inspired you to create the Roast Chicken Pies?
Chris Green: Roast Chicken Pies are a great fit for Red Rooster as we have ovens in our kitchens and are able to prepare and bake them throughout the day. Our Roast Chicken is an amazing product and what better way to showcase it than putting into a pie. We also have great mash, gravy and peas which when stacked on top makes the pie even better.
Australians love pies and Red Rooster being born and bred in Australia it is a match made in heaven. In Australia most pies are sold in service stations, bakeries and convenience stores... we are now providing even more options with 360 restaurants across the country and of course our delivery service.
QSR Media: What do you expect it to do for the Red Rooster business?
Chris Green: It will give hungry Australians even more reason to visit us, whether it is for the first time or additional visits. In just the first few days of launching the campaign we sold over 30,000 pies!
QSR Media: What were some of the challenges and considerations involved in this launch?
Chris Green: We knew Australians love pies but wanted to do it in a uniquely Red Rooster way that nobody can copy, so we created a range of Roast Chicken Pies.
When we started developing pies we wanted to showcase the Red Rooster quality so made the decision to prepare them in store vs. bringing in pre made pies. Other chains have brought in 3rd party pies that they just reheat and then serve to the customer.
We are known for our succulent roast chicken which is brought in fresh, is hand seasoned and then roasted for 55 minutes. We roast chickens throughout the day to ensure quality and don’t hold them in bags where they sweat. Our NPD team worked tirelessly to ensure the roast chicken was the hero of the pie and to also enable our restaurant crew to seamlessly prepare and bake pies throughout the day... the result is simply delicious!
It was important to have a range for customers to choose from so in addition to the Roast Chicken Pie we also tried and tested various pie filling combinations and it was the Chicken, Cheese & Bacon came out stronger so we have launched with two varieties with the addition of the stacked up option on either pie using our mash, gravy and mushy peas.
QSR Media: Any other big plans for the year?
Chris Green: Red Rooster is currently going through a transformation to modernise the brand to make us the ‘Most Loved Aussie Restaurant’. We are being relentless in heightening our customer obsession with over 50+ refurbishments every year and a big focus on improving our customer’s Drive Thru experience. Customers are going to see more great new advertising showcasing new flavours, sides and desserts. Our delivery rollout continues and we will have some exciting offers coming for this expanding category. This year we are aiming to become even more convenient for customers with the launch of new shopfront formats that will get us into great locations at a lower capital and operating cost for Franchisees. We are planning on 15-20 new sites around Australia and will also target Tasmania where people have been yelling out for Reds for a long time!
