Halal fried chicken outlet in Pattani is doing brisk business
The recent departure of the US brandname KFC fried chicken from the three southernmost provinces has opened up a good opportunity for the locally-branded fried chicken outlet to cater to the demand of the local Malay Muslims.
Bagus is the name of the local fried chicken outlets which has become a favourite joint of young and old Muslims. It is located at the corner of Charoenpradit road near the watch tower in the middle of Pattani township.
Bagus is managed and staffed by Malay Muslims and the fried chicken it offers is 100 percent Halal food.
The co-owners of the outlet are Mr Muhamad Domeedae and Mrs Rohanee Putae. They are both Pattani natives.
What does Bagus mean? "It is a Malay language which means good," explained Mr Muhamad, adding that he opened up a fried chicken outlet about two years ago at a nearby location.
"It was a two-storey small shophouse but the atmosphere was friendly. There were books for our customers who were then mostly students and families. As customers increased, we expanded to the floor."
"We did not fry a lot of chicken at a time and then kept them in shelves. We wanted our customers to eat freshly fried chicken which are crispy and taste better. So, it was understood that customers would have to wait at least 15 minutes before they could eat our friend chicken." Said the owner.
The present location of the outlet used to be a restaurant but the owner was not successful and decided to fold up the business and to lease the premise to anyone who was interested.
Muhamad said that initially he was not interested to lease the premise because he might not be able to afford the rent and also he was too busy because he worked at a bank too.
He said one day his staff at his old outlet talked about working in a larger outlet. Eventuallly, a discussion was held and he surveyed the new location and found it appropriately located to do business.
A two-year contract was signed and the couple procured the new location which slightly needed redecoration. The first two floors were open to cater to customers and there is a room for prayers too.
Since the outlet was opened in January, business has steadily picked up, especially after the closure of KFC outlets, to the extent that he decided to quit his job at the bank to devote full time for his fried chicken business.
He explained that Muslim people were willing to pay more on food because they do not have a night life. Also, he said that customers were satisfied because his fried chicken were 100 percent Halal food.
The unique identity of Bagus outlet is that all the staff members are male, said Rohanee. She explained that the reason their outlet only hired male staff because she wanted men to play the leading role in the society. When men could be leaders in their fried chicken business, they could be leaders in the other fields, she added.
The staff members are paid 300 baht a day but they get double pay during weekends plus other fringe benefits and social security coverage.
Ms Rohanee said that Bagus donated 2.5 percent of net profits for charity purpose and they had a plan to set up a foundation in order to return profits to the society.
The couple have business ambition. They are not contented with just one outlet in Pattani.