The one change Wingers co-founder would make for the business

Since last year, Wingers has made several investments for its 50-restaurant goal.

If Amran Sunner, Wingers co-founder and head of operations, would change one thing about the business he would have introduced the chicken marination facility a little bit earlier.

The brand has been quietly but steadily growing since announcing its franchise in 2022. It has 11 restaurants, five of which were opened this year alone. Just a few months ago, it announced that it has entered into a 30-restaurant development deal in London.

Before it launched its franchise, all of its chicken was marinated in-house. When they started to grow, this task was relegated to a local third-party supplier but long-term, finding a price point that worked to ensure premium quality proved challenging. This was essential because by experience they found that most consumers are willing to pay for premium quality.

By managing the in-house marination process, Amran said they managed to mitigate two challenges: maintaining the quality of the product and keeping it consistent for franchisees.

“If we were to pass [the marination process] to franchisees there’s a risk that consistency across our restaurants would be compromised,” Amran explained.

Gaining ground amidst competition    

Since they opened, the fried chicken segment has started to gain even more competition. In a recent report, Popeyes announced that it is on track to double its estate by the end of the year. New brands like the Canadian chicken brand MB Chicken and US-headquartered Dave’s Hot Chicken are also planning to compete in the UK.

Amran said this just means that it is important to keep going as they are.

“We will always push, and we are proud to push that our products are always fresh. All the way through it’s fresh, it’s hand-breaded per order and just cooked and served for the customer. We also have a very simple menu. We just have two cuts of meat, wings and chicken tenders dressed with a choice of sauces,” Amran said.

Amran also believes that being a home-grown chicken brand will give them an advantage over competitors from overseas.

Stabilising economy

Looking back, Amran said compared to when they first started, and even a year ago, the challenges have quickly evolved. 

For example, when they were first starting, the first challenge was moving from a dark kitchen to a restaurant store model. Then they had to anticipate the number of people coming in every day and optimise their kitchen to make it easier to prepare each order.

From last year to early this year, challenges like high food costs, high energy bills, and labour were prevalent but for Amran, he said these challenges have started to stabilise.

“Our main focus right now is keeping growing and keeping the shops (franchisees) happy,” Amran said.

They are doing this by creating a more attractive menu, utilising consumer feedback to tweak and make changes, which is easier for them as a small quick-service restaurant chain. One of the things born from customer feedback was the creation of a less spicy sauce range.

“We launched a garlic parmesan and a sweet hoi sauce early last year. And as soon as we launched them, it was crazy. Everyone loved them and some even literally drank the Garlic parmesan sauce like water. We listen to our customers and that’s part of our general strategies,” Amran said.

Amran also revealed that they are planning to release a Nashville hot chicken range for those consumers with a taste for a more challenging spice.

“We're really happy with how things are going, and we just want to keep moving forward really, but, yeah, it's been really great,” Amran said.