Leading Canadian quick-serve restaurant Mary Brown’s (MB) Chicken has launched in the UK market, with ambitious plans for rapid expansion.
The first UK MB Chicken store opened in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on 21 February, with subsequent stores scheduled to open in 2024 in locations including Belfast, Leicester and London.
Founded in 1969, MB Chicken currently has around 300 locations across Canada and is growing both within North America and in international markets. The franchise is known for its Signature Chicken, Taters, Big Mary chicken sandwich, and Tater Poutine.
The company extols its ‘made-fresh methodology’, which focuses on hand cutting and hand breading its signature chicken and taters from locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients. It has maintained the same traditional breading and seasoning recipe since 1969 using its own proprietary cooking equipment with patented technology, which it says seals in the chicken’s natural flavours resulting in a less oily, juicy, tender, and more tasty product.
MB Chicken has called for applications from franchisees and master franchisees to expand the brand across the UK, Ireland and continental Europe. It said ideal partners are successful multi-unit or multi-brand operators with an experienced team and sufficient capital to rapidly develop an exclusive territory.
CEO of MBI Brands, Hadi Chahin, said: “For over 54 years Canadians have made Mary Brown’s Chicken their first choice for fresh, hand-cut, hand-breaded delicious fried chicken and taters. We are therefore excited to introduce our legendary concept to the wonderful people of the UK. What makes MB Chicken special is our delicious, handcrafted menu and genuine hospitality; we have been a beloved tradition in Canada for generations, and we can’t wait to share our passion for delicious, made-from-scratch quality food with new friends in the UK.”
Dylan Powell, VP international development, added: “Backed by our experienced operational and franchise team, new franchisees have a fantastic opportunity to join us on our quest to reach 300 branches in the UK. We are 100% focused on identifying the right partners who share our values and can work as a team.”