FASA’s most prestigious award, sponsored by Absa, celebrates the success of the franchisor who has made a significant impact in the marketplace and who has, through effective business management and marketing, achieved outstanding financial results and a significant growth in his sector.

The winner of Franchisor of the Year also won a Sanlam Business Excellence Index programme to the value of R14 000; a five-day Franchise Management Programme from Franchize Directions (accredited by Da Vinci) valued at R12 000 as well as a full page, full colour FREE advertisement in FASA’s 2017 Franchise Manual.

OBC Chicken & Meat, with over 60 franchised stores countrywide, enjoys a strong brand presence built up over 27 years as the chicken ekaya of choice and  continues to prove that success in retailing lies in building up a sustainable brand over the long term and winning the customers’ support with range, quality and value.

The economic downturn of the past seven years has not affected the OBC group to the same degree as it has affected other retailers, according to MD Tony da Fonseca.  “While most food retailers have been climbing the LSM ladder eager to outdo each other to cater to the upwardly mobile and are now feeling the squeeze as consumers are having to cut out luxuries to survive, OBC Chicken has stuck to its core business of serving the mass market by being consistent, competitive and convenient, offering quality in the most basic traditional food offerings.”

Started in 1987 as a small grocery store in Carltonville, OBC Chicken opened its first franchise in 1999 and to date has over 60 combined company and franchised stores that serve a market of millions of consumers in townships, commuter areas and city centres.  “OBC was started as a Portuguese family enterprise based on that community’s tradition of trading in predominantly black areas” says MD, Tony Da Fonseca. “As a group of like-minded traders with a passion for making a difference in people’s lives, OBC Chicken & Meat can be credited with changing the face of retailing in township and downtown areas.  Where others have tried to penetrate this market with inferior products and run-down stores, the OBC Chicken & Meat stores, with their clean, bright stores, latest in lighting, refrigeration and packaging and impeccable standards of hygiene, have raised the area’s standards and the shopper’s quality of life.”

OBC reported a 29.77% average growth for the group, including new stores with the average existing store growth at 15.7%. The customer count for the year in 2015 was 15 883 899, up from 13 703 469 in 2014. That is an increase of 2 180 430 customers per annum, OR 18 1702 extra customers per month. These are total of till transactions in stores, which are referred to as customer counts.

“Basket spend grew by 6.2% but chicken actually had a deflation in price of a minimum of 4.25% mainly due to excess stocks in the market place,” says Da Fonseca.

With the bulk of OBC’s businesses in outlying areas, they hope to expand their franchise footprint even further into the far corners of the country and have also launched the OBC Fried Chicken fast food concept – a natural step to move from selling the full range of  chicken to offering a full menu of fried chicken and other delicacies such as crumbed feet, crumbed chicken livers, crumbed gizzard skewers, spicy options and vetkoek – all served with optional pap and tomato gravy.

Interest in the brand is high. “This is partly due to the effects of brand migration where migrant families going home to their homelands stock up on OBC Chicken supplies and fuel a demand in those areas for an OBC store to be set up.  OBC’s expansion is based very much on consumer demand and, as a member of FASA, OBC Chicken is benefiting from government’s Jobs Fund allocation to franchise companies through various funding initiatives.”