We Are Good to Go Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Of all people, it was a boilermaker from Bendigo, in Victoria, that came up with this incredible concept. Whilst that may sound a bit surprising, truth be told he, Frank McEnroe, did have a small catering business on the side. Frank was standing outside the Richmond Cricket Ground in 1950 when he spotted one of his competitors selling Chinese styled spring rolls and thought "why didn't I think of that". The snack was different to anything else at the ground and it was almost an ideal treat for a football match or any outdoor event for that matter. The issues that Frank saw with it were (a) they were too small and (b) they were way too flimsy. He set about making a much more rigid and decidedly longer roll. By the following year, a legend was born.

The roll was created using a combination of egg and flour. The remaining ingredients would be cooked together and were then partially pulped before being pushed into the tube. Nowadays, the roll is made as an elongated tube, the filling pumped in and then it is cut into equal lengths. The cutting process has a slight imperfection which gives the Chiko a unique little closing flap. The roll is deep fired at the place of purchase, prior to sale.

The Chiko Roll made its debut at the Wagga Wagga (New South Wales) Agricultural Show in 1951 and was an immediate hit. To keep up with the demand for the product McEnroe moved from Bendigo to Melbourne and used a modified sausage-making machine to manufacture the rolls. When demand continued to put strong pressure on the supply chain, Frank moved to a larger set of premises in Essendon (Victoria). Sales continued to escalate necessitating a merger with Floyd's Iceworks to form the company Frozen Food Industries Pty Ltd. Such was the growth that by 1963 the company had gone public.

There were many factors that aided this growth apart from Australia's booming economy at the time. The Chiko Roll was unique in its way. It was convenient, didn't spill and, importantly, very tasty. It was also aided by a very clever marketing campaign that saw the adoption of the slogan "Grab a Chiko", which highlighted both its simplicity and convenience. The convenience didn't merely rest with the consumer, it was a boon to shopkeepers who simply had to take one out of the freezer, deep fry for a few minutes, and then comfortably slip it into an innovatively trademarked Chiko Roll bag.

Chiko reached its peak sales during the 1970s when more than 40 million units were sold across Australia each year. It was also exported to markets such as Japan who were buying up a million rolls a year. However, despite this, the 1970s also saw the boom of takeaway restaurants and stores in Australia and the increased competition did have an impact on Chiko's overall sales. In 1995 the brand was purchased by Simplot Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of the J.R. Simplot Company based in Boise, Idaho. As a footnote to this story, Simplot did introduce a vegetarian version of the roll in 2017 by removing both the beef and the tallow, however, this did not "grab" the consumers and it was discontinued in 2023.