Legendary taste of Texas gets Malaysians’ vote

Tham: Winning this award is a great accomplishment for a relatively young brand in the quick-service restaurant segment in Malaysia.

IT IS always special to win awards, but it is even more extraordinary when that recognition is based on consumer votes.

Texas Chicken Malaysia general manager Tham Yue Foon said winning Silver at the 2021 Putra Brand Awards in the “Restaurants & Fast Food” category for the second consecutive year was an incredible honour and a great encouragement for a growing brand.

Also known as the People’s Choice Awards, the Putra Brand Awards recognises Malaysians’ favourite brands across various categories.

“Winning this award is a great accomplishment for a relatively young brand in the quick-service restaurant segment in Malaysia.

“It is extra special as the winners are voted by consumers, which proves that they love our brand and have confidence in our products,” said Tham.

“Fried chicken is the favourite comfort food in Malaysia and our customers have always been fans of the authentic Texas flavours that we put on their plates.

“They love our products for its trusted quality and great value for money.

“In addition, our iconic honey-butter biscuits are also one of a kind.”

She said the first Texas Chicken outlet in Malaysia opened nine years ago. Today, the chain has 85 restaurants nationwide.

“Each day, we receive enquiries from the public on when we will be coming to their towns, which shows that demand for our brand is strong.

“I am pleased to share that we aim to open 14 new outlets nationwide this year in efforts to bring the flavourful, legendary taste of Texas to more Malaysians,” said Tham, a pioneer employee of Texas Chicken Malaysia and formerly its marketing head.

“Through our expansion programme, Texas Chicken will also be providing job and career growth opportunities to Malaysians, with the opening of our restaurants this year set to create an additional 280 jobs.

“By year end, we expect our staff strength to grow to at least 1,800.”

Texas Chicken Malaysia was also recently voted as the Graduates’ Choice Award’s (GCA) Most Preferred Graduate Employers To Work For In 2022 under the Fast Food category, thus establishing the organisation as an attractive workplace for graduates.

Texas Chicken offers relevant training and development opportunities to its staff to prepare them for career advancement within the organisation.

As part of Texas Chicken Malaysia’s growth plans, there will be new initiatives rolled out to provide convenience to consumers.

From building more drive-throughs to expanding its food delivery coverage, the company is also exploring drive-in services (where customers park outside the outlet and order by scanning a QR code) and online orders for self pick-up.

However, it all goes back to product quality, and this is where Texas Chicken has excelled, said Tham.

“We have successfully revamped our breakfast menu by using our iconic biscuits to replace the buns in our chicken and sausage sandwiches.

“The freshly baked Chicken Bizzkit and Sausage Bizzkit are available for breakfast at around 20 Texas Chicken restaurants nationwide.

“We are also constantly exploring new menu items to create excitement for consumers who crave variety and unique sensory experiences, such as meatless, plant-based offerings and different flavours of chicken, burgers, wraps and sides,” she said.

The Fire Dragon Burger – a combination of two spicy tenders and a huge chicken thigh fillet between two toasted sesame buns – was a massive hit, garnering much social media buzz and breaking its initial sales projections.

Tham said the Fire Dragon campaign was originally slated to run from May 25 to July 5, 2021.

“However, our stocks ran out after the fourth week of the campaign due to overwhelming demand,” she recounted.

“The product exceeded projections by 85% and contributed 20% to Texas Chicken’s overall sales during the campaign period, which makes it one of our most successful limited-time offerings.

“We are a challenger brand, so we have to work smarter at engaging consumers and staying fresh, exciting and relevant, yet embrace change to compete and win against an ever-growing tide of international and local competitors,” she added.

Texas Chicken is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Malaysia in January next year, and is raring to raise the bar on the quick-service restaurant experience as it counts down to the milestone achievement.