Much to cluck about with fried chicken on the streets

Much to cluck about with fried chicken on the streets

By Muhammad Yazid

JAKARTA (JP): Lovers of American-style fried chicken no
longer have to drag themselves out of their homes for a crispy
piece of thigh or breast.

Fried chicken is finding its way to the streets, with loyal
customers saying the food is as tasty as that to be found in
major fast food restaurants.

Operating from small handcarts, street vendors have set up
shop on street corners and crossings. There are no plush
surroundings, no tables, no servings of rice, no ketchup and
chili in fancy plastic sachets.

It's a bare-bones operation where fried chicken rules the
roost.

It's the very simplicity of the setting which makes the street
fried chicken more affordable for the pocketbook. A piece of
breast, thigh or wing can cost more than Rp 4,000 in a regular
fast food restaurant, but they are Rp 2,000, Rp 1,800 and Rp
1,500 respective from the street vendor.

Fried chicken for sale at a price that consumers can afford is
the street vendors' main selling point. Most of their customers
are from the middle class and low-income bracket, who have been
unable to cope with the price increases at fast food restaurants
during the economic crisis (prior to the crisis, a piece of fried
chicken in restaurants was about Rp 2,000).

"What's important is that it is affordable to the buyers,"
said Tasiman who sells fried chicken near the railway station at
Kranji, Bekasi.

Fried Jhiken

They get their message across about what they have to offer in
sometimes garbled English -- Fried Jhiken, Fried Chiken, Fred
Chiken and Frid Chiken -- stamped on the glass fronts of their
handcarts. There might be misspellings, but the buyers know what
they mean.

Selling fried chicken is a simpler profession than hawking
other types of food, vendors said.

"Particularly when compared to Soto Ayam (chicken soup), Bubur
Ayam (chicken porridge) and chicken satay," said Mardiono, the
owner of three fried chicken handcarts, who has been in the
business for several months.

He said start-up costs for the business were about Rp 2.5
million. It covered the handcart (Rp 500,000), a kerosene burner
and pump (Rp 750,000); a frying pan (between Rp 50,000 and Rp
75,000); plus Rp 25,000 for other small equipment, like pails.

He marinates his fried chicken in salted sago juice; other
vendors use a mixture of water, milk and egg. The marinades are
used to plump up the chicken before it is covered in spices and
fried.

Not chicken feed

Most street vendors go it alone, performing all the tasks
themselves, in contrast to fast food restaurants with their
retinue of counter and kitchen workers.

The profit is not chicken feed either. A broiler, costing
between Rp 7,000 and Rp 10,000, can bring in about a 40 percent
profit.

Vendors have taken up potentially lucrative spots near
shopping centers and malls and, inevitably, it has led to
competition. There are price wars and the adoption of various
business strategies among the vendors to win over fried chicken
lovers.

"The most determining factor is the bumbu (cooking spices),"
said Agus, the owner of Fried Chicken on Jl. Gelora, Central
Jakarta.

He was willing to pay for the secret to success. He paid a
friend Rp 1.5 million for a recipe for the spices, which the
friend said he obtained for Rp 2 million from a cook at a famous
fried chicken restaurant.

"If the recipe is not the right one, it may have a different
aroma and taste," explained Agus.

"The taste is not bad, as I still can smell the Kentucky Fried
Chicken aroma," commented Wati, a mother of three, who was
returning home from her job as an elementary school teacher. She
is satisfied by the presence of the vendors of "Kentucky", which
is what many people call the street vendors.

Some of the street vendors sell their chicken at a higher
price; one operating in the Jabotabek area sells pieces of chest,
wing and thigh for Rp 3,000, Rp 2,000 and Rp 2,500 respectively.

The appearance of the street vendors has not ruffled the
feathers of established fried chicken establishments like KFC.

"We have our specific recipe which our clients love," said KFC
brand manager Priscilla P. Handajani.

Yet the street fried chicken vendors have found their own
niche market among people who love their chicken but do not want
to fork out a lot of hard-earned rupiah.

It also provides some formerly unemployed people with much
needed work. While fast food restaurants require their workers to
have a high school diploma, street vendors only need some cash
and a bit of pluck to start up their business.