In the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) segment in Nigeria, Chicken Republic (CR), founded by Deji Akinyanju in 2004, was never a force to be reckoned with though the brand came with a unique value proposition.
The brand debuted and prided itself with aesthetic ambiance, full chicken offering, unique structural effect and Jollof rice. However, all of the dominance changed as soon as KFC arrived from the United States of America.
Unable to withstand the stiff competition, Chicken Republic retreated a few years ago, but made resurgence late last year with aggressive brand expansion across Lagos State. It started by upstaging Mr Bigg’s from Mobil Filling Stations across the state. Mr Bigg’s, a pioneer QSR brand, had struck a deal will the downstream oil giant, Mobil to use its fuel stations for outlets that largely worked until franchisees began to mess things up for the brand.
At the moment, Chicken Republic has not only ousted Mr Bigg’s, but it has matched a big rival such as KCF offering for offering, aesthetics for aesthetics, space for space, and strategic location for strategic location. CR’s sleek outlets can be found in every strategic location, including Oba Akran, Ogba, Agindingbi, Victoria Island, Lekki Phase 1, Ikeja GRA and several other parts of Lagos. Again, if its revolution called ‘The Place” comes through, it will so dwarf competition in the food segment in Lagos.
Akinyanju, indeed, has an amazing vision and Chicken Republic being a Nigerian QSR chain and franchise that specialises in chicken recipes, especially fried chicken, is ready to take on competition even with the much anticipated arrival of Burger King. Bullish move!
