Mary Brown’s, a famous chicken and taters company started in Newfoundland and Labrador, has gone international with its first location outside of Canada in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Gregory Roberts, CEO of Mary Brown’s Inc., said the emerging market in Turkey was the big draw. “Right now, we’ve got a large part of the world that’s coming into the middle class, and they love branded North American food, especially the chicken product,” Roberts said.
“I find the chicken is really accepted all around the world, and we have a supply available, so right now Turkey is doing really well, the economy is doing great, and also from a logistics point of view it opens us up to the greater Middle East and also Eastern Europe.”
Mary Brown’s had some help breaking ground in the international market from Ontario-based firm aQmen Inc.
Qamar Rizvi, President and CEO of aQmen Inc., said the company looked at four key factors to determine which market offered the biggest opportunity for success.
“The first and foremost of which was fresh-emphasis,” said Rizvi. “In Canada, we prepare our chicken fresh, it’s not frozen, as such it gave us a unique point of differentiation in Turkey which is fresh-obsessed when it comes to food.”
Rizvi also said Turkey is a launchpad for Mary Brown’s to expand into other parts of the world if successful.
About aQmen Inc.
aQmen Inc., is an archetype mentorship firm that provides advice, planning and turnkey project management support to CEO's, board members, business owners and government policy makers alike. The company provides assistance in matters related to business strategy, corporate governance, organizaitonal structure and internatioanl expansion. For government it actualizes economic, health and education driven projects that spur growth, create jobs and improve living standards nationwide.