Outgoing Chicken Treat boss says brand will have second crack at flying WA coop to take on east coast

Mimma Battista is confident in Chicken Treat’s ability to have another crack at spreading its wings on the east coast, conceding the first attempt in 2022 was poorly timed. Revealing she will soon step down from the top job after more than 10 years at the helm, the chief executive told The West Australian the fast-food franchise was still open to a return to the eastern seaboard but it would be a decision for her successor to work through in the next financial year. Chicken Treat opened its first stores outside WA in December 2022 as part of its first step towards national expansion. The two stores — at Eastern Creek and Crows Nest in Sydney — were closed early last year. The brand — owned by Craveable Brands and already competing within its own stable against Oporto and Red Rooster — Ms Battista said higher cost pressures on consumers’ budgets was the biggest challenge to Chicken Treat’s expansion. “It wasn’t the right time, we are regrouping and we’re going again,” she said, adding she was “absolutely” confident in Chicken Treat’s second bid to get a foothold in the market. “We have the strength of Craveable Brands, which has a footprint in every State . . . we have a great support network as well as a great supply chain to support any State that we choose to enter. “There’s a lot of blatant love for the brand, whether you’ve grown up with Chicken Treat in WA and moved across the country, across the world.” Ms Battista was tight-lipped on specific details of a return to the east coast and whether it will include the initial Sydney locations. She will step down as CEO at the end of August and believes she will leave the 49-year-old brand “completely transformed”. She took charge of Chicken Treat in April 2014, just as the WA fast-food franchise was in dire need of a refresh. It had rotated through five chief executives in five years, some outlets had not been updated for decades and customer complaints were rife. “It’s gone from a tired, challenged and loss-making brand into a highly profitable brand,” Ms Battista said, pointing to the 180 per cent improvement in Chicken Treat’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation during her tenure. “Chicken Treat has about a 92 for brand awareness in WA . . . it certainly does hold its own, even against the larger brands.” Chicken Treat now has 65 stores in WA, 25 of which were opened by Ms Battista. With 90 per cent of a network-wide refurbishment program already completed, she expects the rest will be upgraded over the next 12 months. “Over the past seven years, our total accumulated sales growth is 81 per cent . . . there’s been some really strong growth, not just at the revamped stores. It’s the whole network,” she said. Ms Battista said growing Chicken Treat’s workforce to 1800 had been “one of the most rewarding parts of my job”. “I’m especially proud of the culture we’ve built, one that supports and champions talent and creates real opportunity,” she said. “The most I’m proud of is watching young, passionate store managers in our network (growing) into confident and capable business owners.” Ms Battista joined Chicken Treat after nine years as State manager for coffee brand Gloria Jean’s and stints as a director and operations manager in cafes and restaurants. “It’s been an incredibly humbling, rewarding and fast-paced few years but I’m probably not going to be stepping back from the industry I love,” she said. Chicken Treat is still yet to name Ms Battista’s successor.