Square One: Fricken Chicken
Posted on
Some great ideas come to you in the shower, or right before you fall asleep.
But for Fricken Chicken, the lightbulb moment was a Sunday dinner in 2018, when co-founders Mo and Marwan Saad were tucking into their Mum’s fried chicken – a weekend staple for the family.
“Most families have roast dinners on Sunday, we have fried chicken,” smiles Mo. “We had been wanting to start a venture and off the back of encouragement from our family, we decided to use Mum’s recipe to start a food truck.”
Joined by Mo’s wife, Heather Mitchell, and Marwan’s wife, Manal Jbeili, the quartet began recipe testing, landing on a curated selection of fried chicken burgers and crispy tenders topped with house-made and specialty sauces.
Unsure about Canberrans’ appetite for fried chicken burgers, the Fricken team decided to launch at street food event The Forage to test the waters.
“We wanted to make sure it would be received well and we thought, if it is, we can take it further,” says Mo. “Luckily, that’s exactly what happened.”
Mo describes the moment they opened the truck for the very first time to a line of people as long as the eye could see as a true ‘wow’ moment, with the team selling out completely across the day.
With a degree in IT, Mo did extensive research on Point of Sale (POS) systems and website models that wouldn’t let them down on Fricken’s debut and came across Square. On the day, having servers armed with Square Readers and iPads made taking orders a breeze, ensuring people came away with their chicken (or cauliflower) burger of choice and a positive customer experience.
“We started using Square from day one. With my IT background, I was obsessed with finding the best system and Square had all the things we needed — terminals and readers and a website. We’ve even integrated all our delivery services into one POS system so they all come to the same place and we can prioritise orders accordingly.”
In April 2020, Fricken opened its first bricks and mortar store on Braddon’s Lonsdale Street which managed to not only survive the pandemic but thrive, with QR codes on tables taking customers straight to their online ordering website built using Square Online.
“Two years into our journey, we were attending events, getting loads of bookings for the truck, and we always had a line of customers, so we decided to open a physical shop. We found a place on Lonsdale Street, and we’re so happy to be there.”
Fricken Chicken truck residencies at Fyshwick’s Capital Brewing Co, The Jetty and Westfield Belconnen as well as countless event pop-ups, followed, with Fricken’s second permanent store location announced earlier this month. All locations now use Square Registers for taking orders.
“Fast forward to now and we have two mobile trucks, the shop in Braddon and we’ve just announced that we’re opening in Tuggeranong, which we’re so happy about,” says Mo. “We have a lot of loyal customers on the southside so it’s great to bring that convenience to them.”
For Mo and the team, meeting customers’ needs is paramount and Fricken has become well-known for their sensitive approach to dietary requirements, with all Fricken locations offering separate fryers to ensure coeliac-friendly gluten-free items in addition to plenty of vegan options with cauliflower in place of chicken.
Naturally, a vital part of keeping the team informed about customer behaviour is data and Mo says Square helps in this area too.
“It’s been a game-changer because Square has given us insight into all our platforms so we can see exactly how many burgers we’ve sold across all our locations. That way we can make educated tweaks to our menu. If something is selling well but things are being added or removed, we can make those changes permanent to an item.”
As for those who haven’t had the pleasure of ordering from the delightfully named Fricken Chicken (not us – it’s always on hot rotation for Friday office lunch at HerCanberra) Mo says the Fricken Box and Fricken Burger are great places to start.
“Once you get a feel for the menu, you can go a little more adventurous and try something like our Crispy Truffle Burger, with truffle mayo, parmesan cheese, lettuce and spring onion.”
As for what’s next for Fricken, Mo says he’s excited for a sunny summer serving burgers across Canberra and at their newest location and beyond that, well, who knows.
“We’re so excited to launch in Tuggeranong and at that point we’ll have great coverage across Canberra. From there, we’ll see where we can take the brand. Our future vision is big, so let’s see what we can tick off.”
Sounds like the world is Fricken Chicken’s oyster. Or should that be chicken wing?
Square brings you the tools that connect every side of your business.
Find out more at squareup.com.
