Korean Cock-A-Hoop takes on KFC

If you have ever been to South Korea, chances are you might have seen the NeNe Chicken brand. With its unmistakable offerings of ‘Swicy fried chicken’ and ‘Bulgogi fried chicken’ and more, the company positions itself as a hip, energetic, young brand that wants to dominate the quick serving restaurant (QSR) space.

The company already has a rather impressive international footprint. With over 1,000 restaurants in South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore and more, it seems that they might be late to the game in opening stores in Malaysia.

Raymond Wong, Director of NNC Food Industries Sdn Bhd, the license holder to the NeNe Chicken brand in Malaysia says there were already 30 to 40 applications to bid for a Malaysian license when they went to the principal owner in South Korea.

“We are honoured that our company was the one selected over others to bring the brand over to Malaysia.”

To understand the reason why NNC Food Industries was selected over others on bringing the brand from South Korea to Malaysia, one has to look to their origins in Australia. There, the primary company is ST Group.

“ST Group owns a host of brands including PappaRich, on top of the NeNe Chicken brand in Australia” says Raymond.

“We grow businesses fairly quickly, and in a stable and sustainable manner. The beauty of this is that ST Group has Malaysians in it, and the connection that we already grow the NeNe Chicken brand in Australia and have Malaysian roots make it a sound choice to select us as the company to bring the brand over here.”

The first NeNe Chicken outlet will open its doors to Malaysians on the 30th of January this year at Genting Sky Arena. They plan to open four more outlets for the rest of the year.

“We have planned up to 20 restaurants to be opened by 2020, but for now, we will focus on opening in major malls first before thinking about opening standalone premises” says Raymond.

Podcast of the interview: