By Will Novosedlik
It’s been a good couple of years to be in the fried chicken biz.
A rise in chicken QSR popularity kicked off in 2019, sparked by a feud between two rivaling chains over which launched a fan-favourite sandwich first (the absurdity even gained enough traction to be parodied on Saturday Night Live).
The pandemic gave chicken a further boost. According to ecommerce data company Edison Trends, overall spending on chicken sandwiches grew 420% between January 2019 and December 2020, with Polaris Research finding that a key driver to its growth was the shift to easy pickup options as well as third-party delivery.
These tailwinds have been great news for Mary Brown’s, one of Canada’s few national brands that originated in Newfoundland and Labrador. It opened its first shop there 50 years ago, and when the brand was purchased from its original owners in 2007, it set a goal to be the largest Canadian chicken QSR in Canada. That vision kicked off 15 straight years of growth.
The company’s growth over that period can be attributed to a number of key competitive advantages. One is a dedication to best-in-class service, from speed and accuracy of order to providing a safe experience throughout the pandemic. Another is menu innovation. But perhaps most importantly in view of the trends described above, MBC benefited dramatically from its proprietary app, with over 400k downloads offering both pickup and delivery options in addition to third-party delivery.
According to CMO Jeff Barlow, it’s one of the fastest growing QSR chains in Canada. “The company grew by 150% and doubled unit count over the last five years. It’s expected to grow at a rate of 20% to 25% over the next few years,” says Barlow. “We will finish 2022 with 235 locations nationally.”
While Barlow’s efforts deserve credit, there are other reasons for Mary Brown’s success. Taking a different approach to quality is a stand-out factor. “We bring in whole chickens and cut them in stores just like a butcher would in the 1950s,” he says, adding that the same farm-to-store approach applies to its potatoes. “It’s more labor intensive, but it’s fresh and produces better quality,” he says. Barlow notes that unlike Mary Brown’s, most QSRs follow a freezer-to-fryer method.
When it comes to advertising, Barlow says the brand has been running campaigns continuously since 2019. “We’ve done some fun things in an effort to show people where our potatoes come from,” he says. “We connected with one of our farmers and told him we wanted to do a ‘crop circle.’ After the farmer allowed the stunt to occur, Mary Brown’s launched an acre-sized logo directly in the field.
The QSR has recently hit another field you might be familiar with. If you’ve been to a Toronto ball game this year, we’d bet your excitement for securing some fried chicken was just as hot as it was for witnessing a home run. Much to the delight of fans, Mary Brown’s has cut a five-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. “It gives us full marketing rights since we’re the official chicken restaurant of the Jays,” says Barlow. “We have arguably the best out of home placement that I believe exists in Canada, which is behind home plate.”
Looking ahead to 2023, the brand is on track to multiply its concessions within the Rogers Centre. It is focusing its investments on menu optimization and in-store experience at Fat Bastard Burrito, an acquisition that took place this past June, and secured the brand’s positioning as one of the largest privately held QSR companies in Canada. And while it will continue to invest in its Canadian expansion, it also has ambitions to expand to places such as Pakistan, Ireland, the U.K. and Egypt. It’s a good time to be a chicken sandwich.
